Efforts to Foster the Secondary Battery Material Industry Ecosystem Stand Out in Ministry of Industry Evaluation
[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters, Reporter Heo Seon-sik] The Gwangyang Bay Area Free Economic Zone Authority (Commissioner Song Sang-rak, hereinafter GFEZ Authority) announced on the 20th that it achieved the highest grade, S grade, in the 2021 National Free Economic Zone Performance Evaluation conducted by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.
The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy annually evaluates all free economic zones nationwide based on the previous year's overall business performance, this year's investment attraction strategy, and innovation infrastructure development plans through a first-stage document review and a second-stage on-site inspection (including interviews with heads of institutions), then assigns differentiated grades of S, A, or B.
The GFEZ Authority analyzed that in this evaluation, the establishment of a secondary battery material industry cluster, which is core to future strategic industries such as electric vehicles and ESS, was recognized as a specialized competitive advantage of the Gwangyang Bay Area.
The Gwangyang Bay Area Free Economic Zone is currently undergoing large-scale investments by anchor companies in the secondary battery material industry such as POSCO Chemical, POSCO HY Clean Metal, and POSCO Lithium Solution, and has also succeeded in attracting investments from related companies, making it the largest secondary battery material industry supply base in Korea.
For next year's business goals, the GFEZ Authority has set investment attraction at 1.8 trillion KRW and job creation at 1,500 positions, and plans to hold an ‘Industrial Innovation Forum’ in the second half of next year to expand regional consensus on policies and development directions for fostering new industries in the Gwangyang Bay Area.
Additionally, it will focus its capabilities on discovering new growth engines and future strategies, such as developing EV lightweight materials and parts business models linked with secondary battery material companies, and establishing a hydrogen cluster model in the Gwangyang Bay Area.
Song Sang-rak, Commissioner of the GFEZ Authority, stated, “We will not be complacent with the main industries of the Gwangyang Bay Area, but will accelerate the establishment of low-carbon and new growth industry infrastructure in line with the government’s carbon neutrality policy and changes in the industrial ecosystem,” adding, “We will achieve a leap to the ‘New GFEZ’ through guaranteeing free corporate activities and revitalizing the innovation ecosystem.”
Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters, Reporter Heo Seon-sik hss79@asiae.co.kr
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