Jeonnam Province's 7th Term Brand Policy 'Blue Economy' Smooth Sailing

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Yoon Jamin] Jeonnam Province's 'Clean Jeonnam Blue Economy,' proclaimed in 2019, is leading carbon neutrality and the Fourth Industrial Revolution era through the smooth progress of its flagship projects in eco-friendly energy transformation.

According to the province on the 20th, the Blue Economy consists of six major projects combining Jeonnam's unique natural environment and Fourth Industrial Revolution technologies: energy, tourism, bio, future transportation devices, agriculture and fisheries, and smart cities.

For each project, Blue Energy has secured 187.8 billion KRW in the government budget for next year.

Jeonnam is establishing itself as a representative region for new energy industries in Korea.

It is promoting the world's largest 8.2GW offshore wind power complex project and has signed an agreement with the global turbine company Vestas, creating an offshore wind power industry ecosystem, positioning Jeonnam as a leading domestic new energy industry region.

The special law proposed this year is being cooperated on with local political circles to pass within the current government term. Starting with the complex's groundbreaking in the first half of next year, plans include developing a resident participation profit-sharing model and designating win-win jobs to make it a representative carbon neutrality model in Korea.

The Korea Energy Engineering University, scheduled to open in March 2022, has attracted great interest with a high competition rate of 24 to 1 in early undergraduate admissions.

Budgets related to large-scale research facilities linked with Korea Energy Engineering University have been reflected, including 25 billion KRW for university operation next year, 1.5 billion KRW for ultra-high-power laser research facility service fees, 4 billion KRW for superconducting conductor test equipment construction, and an artificial sun engineering research institute, laying the foundation to leap into the world's top 10 engineering universities.

Blue Tourism has secured 1.5965 trillion KRW in national funds, laying the groundwork for Jeonnam to leap forward as a global tourism and cultural hub.

This year, a project worth 600 billion KRW was included for the basic plan study on southern region tourism development.

Research service fees of 1.5 billion KRW for the southern region wide-area tourism development plan, and 100 million KRW each for the Yeosu-Namhae underwater tunnel and the Sinan Bigeum-Amtae island bridge construction, which will become world-class coastal tourist roads, have been allocated.

The plan is to foster wide-area tourism hubs centered on Mokpo and Yeosu and establish a super wide-area tourism belt along the southern coast together with Gwangju, Gyeongnam, Busan, and Ulsan.

Blue Bio and Blue Transport have been allocated 83.7 billion KRW and 183.7 billion KRW, respectively.

This year, 1.8 billion KRW was newly secured for the commercialization and advancement of therapeutic vaccines and cell therapies, laying the foundation for the vaccine industry leap. The vaccine open innovation lab construction project also secured 2.8 billion KRW in national funds through cooperation between Jeonnam Province and local political circles.

Plans are underway to designate a national advanced medical complex specialized in vaccines and immunotherapy.

The 3 billion KRW e-mobility parts test production support infrastructure project was increased by 1 billion KRW compared to the Ministry of Industry's proposal due to the province's active persuasion of the Ministry of Economy and Finance. Going forward, it will establish a foundation for nurturing core parts of future flying cars and leap forward as a center for eco-friendly mobility.

The future competitiveness of agriculture and fisheries is also being secured. Blue Agriculture and Fisheries has been allocated 308.2 billion KRW.

Projects such as the Smart Farm Innovation Valley startup incubation and demonstration research service with 2 billion KRW and the Smart Aquaculture Cluster with 5.6 billion KRW will lead future agriculture and fisheries. The opening of an Amazon brand store and entry into Walmart's online shopping mall have established a foothold for global market entry.

Going forward, efforts will be made to expand the distribution of smart models and foster eco-friendly agriculture, livestock, and fisheries industries through low-carbon livestock management systems and the distribution of eco-friendly equipment to achieve carbon neutrality goals.

As a Blue City, an advanced eco-friendly city combining ecological resources and IT technology is being developed. In Yeongam and Haenam enterprise cities, a carbon-neutral Edu Center is being attracted along with the creation of a complex cultural space, Sani Park.

Additionally, to ensure stable income and settlement, about 1,000 households, including a European Village theme park and resident income-sharing housing, will be sold in the first half of next year, aiming to develop into a representative tourism and leisure city in the southwest region.

Myeong Changhwan, Director of Planning and Coordination at Jeonnam Province, said, “With the Blue Economy, we are leading carbon neutrality and responding to the Fourth Industrial Revolution ahead of other regions. The government budget for next year includes 202 projects worth 2.4382 trillion KRW, an increase of 81 projects and 748.4 billion KRW compared to this year, creating favorable winds for future growth engines. We will focus on discovering new projects to be reflected in 2023.”