Gyeongbuk Province Holds Vision Proclamation Ceremony for Pohang Area Industrial Complex Grand Renovation Project

Decarbonization, Smart Transformation, and Innovation Leading Changes in Steel and Automotive Industries

Linking Pohang-Gyeongju-Yeongcheon, Rebooting the Eastern Region's Economic Axis

Gyeongbuk Provincial Government Office.

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Kim Gui-yeol] On the morning of the 29th, Gyeongbuk Province held a vision proclamation ceremony for the Gyeongbuk Industrial Complex Grand Renovation Pohang Area Project at the POSCO International Hall of Pohang University of Science and Technology.

About 100 stakeholders attended the event, including Gyeongbuk Governor Lee Cheol-woo, Pohang Mayor Lee Kang-deok, Gyeongju Mayor Joo Nak-young, Yeongcheon Mayor Choi Ki-moon, National Assembly member Kim Byung-wook, provincial and city council members, university presidents, chairpersons of the Pohang, Gyeongju, and Yeongcheon Chambers of Commerce and Industry, and business representatives.

This vision proclamation ceremony was organized to present a vision for strengthening the competitiveness of aging industrial complexes and creating jobs, and to promote a successful project through participation, cooperation, and consensus-building among business stakeholders from the public, private, academic, and research sectors.

The Gyeongbuk Industrial Complex Grand Renovation Pohang Area Project set its vision as "Establishing a Green Steel-Based Clean Metal Materials Industry Hub for the Decarbonized Smart Industrial Complex Transformation."

Additionally, it established three major focus tasks, nine implementation tasks, and 30 detailed projects, aiming to create 2,000 jobs, distribute 100 advanced smart factories, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 10% by 2025.

The "Gyeongbuk Industrial Complex Grand Renovation Pohang Area Project" was selected in April this year as a regional contest project for industrial complex renovation led by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy and the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, and plans to invest a total of 588.7 billion KRW in 30 projects from 2023 to 2025.

First, the main contents include upgrading the low-carbon steel industry structure and establishing a steel recycling system foundation to industrialize green steel-based clean metal materials and strengthen innovation capabilities across the value chain.

It also promotes a smart manufacturing new industrialization strategy responding to digital transformation, such as proactive digital manufacturing innovation transition and smart manufacturing workforce development.

Finally, through tasks such as building an eco-friendly energy platform and improving green infrastructure, it plans to promote the creation of a decarbonized industrial complex.

Through this, Pohang aims to upgrade its currently aging industrial infrastructure, reorganize the POSCO-centered industrial structure, and leap forward as a new industrial complex hub based on clean metal materials.

Gyeongju plans to break away from the image of a small-scale aging industrial complex, strengthen cooperation with Pohang and Yeongcheon, and establish an industrial base centered on smart demonstration infrastructure to reemerge as a global future mobility forward base.

Yeongcheon dreams of transforming from a traditional internal combustion engine auto parts industry hub to a next-generation green parts and materials R&D center by enhancing R&D cooperation among companies.

Gyeongbuk Governor Lee Cheol-woo said, "This vision proclamation ceremony is the first step of the Industrial Complex Grand Renovation Pohang Area Project," adding, "Through digital transformation and carbon neutrality, we will revitalize the Pohang area economy so that the industrial complex lives, the local region thrives, and the Republic of Korea prospers. Our province will take the lead in driving this change."