Pohang Mayor Lee Gang-deok's Broad Efforts to Secure Future New Industry Competitiveness... Active Communication with Central Government Departments

Visit to Central Ministries Including Ministry of Economy and Finance, Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, and Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Dongguk Lee] On the 30th, Mayor Lee Kang-deok of Pohang visited the Government Sejong Complex and met with officials from central government ministries including the Ministry of Economy and Finance, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, and the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport to actively propose measures to ensure that Pohang’s new growth strategic industries, which will be responsible for the city’s future, proceed without any setbacks.

Pohang Mayor Lee Kang-deok met with Jang Young-jin, the 1st Vice Minister of the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, to propose that Pohang be designated as a 'National Advanced Strategy Industry Specialized Complex for Secondary Batteries.' (From left: Lee Kang-deok, Mayor of Pohang; Jang Young-jin, 1st Vice Minister of the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy)

According to Pohang City, Mayor Lee met sequentially with key officials from central ministries, including Jang Young-jin, the 1st Vice Minister of the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, explaining Pohang’s new industry expansion and strategic industries, and requested their keen interest to foster these intensively so that Pohang can secure future urban competitiveness.

First, when meeting with Vice Minister Jang Young-jin, Mayor Lee proposed that Pohang City be designated as the ‘National Advanced Strategy Industry Specialized Complex for Secondary Batteries.’

The city actively explained its achievements, including being designated as a battery regulatory free zone in 2019, attracting corporate investments worth 3.9 trillion KRW including EcoPro, creating about 1,700 jobs, and securing a national project worth 100 billion KRW starting with the Secondary Battery Integrated Management Center.

Along with this, citing the region’s strengths such as having the largest domestic production infrastructure for cathode materials, world-class research capabilities and abundant manpower at the Jigok Complex, and 50 years of accumulated steel material technology for producing core secondary battery materials, Pohang was proposed as the optimal site for the secondary battery specialized complex.

Additionally, Pohang City, together with Gyeongbuk Province, launched a secondary battery innovation governance to designate the specialized complex, issued planning service orders, held international conferences and National Assembly forums, emphasizing that Pohang will become an important hub in the national strategic industry.

Furthermore, the city explained that the ‘Opportunity Development Zone’ being promoted for regional balanced development is also an optimal site equipped with metropolitan transportation networks, industrial complexes, and R&D infrastructure.

The Opportunity Development Zone, aimed at promoting the relocation of companies from the metropolitan area or overseas to local regions, is a government balanced development policy that provides extraordinary benefits to companies relocating to local areas to revitalize them.

At the investment stage, it offers reductions in capital gains tax, acquisition tax, and property tax, and at the operation stage, corporate tax is reduced. For small and medium-sized enterprises and mid-sized companies, succession requirements are also significantly relaxed, providing exceptional benefits, and the city is striving to secure this advantage.

Next, Mayor Lee met with Park Il-jun, the 2nd Vice Minister of the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, and requested the prompt approval of the preliminary feasibility study for the ‘Hydrogen Fuel Cell Power Generation Cluster Construction’ project. He asked for efforts to expedite the project as it aligns with the government’s policy direction in response to the energy paradigm shift and the advent of the hydrogen economy era.

Along with this, he also proposed the ‘Establishment and Expansion of Power Infrastructure in Industrial Complexes’ to attract secondary battery companies.

Due to the increase in secondary battery company settlements, there is an urgent need to expand power infrastructure to meet large-scale power demand. For the Yeongilman Industrial Complex, early construction of transmission lines and additional power supply were requested, and for the Blue Valley Industrial Complex, early construction of a new substation was proposed.

Mayor Lee then met with Choi Sang-dae, the 2nd Vice Minister of the Ministry of Economy and Finance, requesting approval for changes in the total project cost and the inclusion of an additional 10 billion KRW in design costs in next year’s budget for the construction of the Pohang-Yeongdeok Expressway (Yeongilman Bridge). He also actively proposed that the ‘Hydrogen Fuel Cell Power Generation Cluster Construction’ and ‘Homigot National Marine Garden Creation’ projects pass the preliminary feasibility study.

Mayor Lee Gang-deok of Pohang is meeting with Choi Sang-dae, the 2nd Vice Minister of the Ministry of Economy and Finance. (From left: Mayor Lee Gang-deok of Pohang, Choi Sang-dae, 2nd Vice Minister of the Ministry of Economy and Finance)

In the final schedule of the day, Mayor Lee met with Moon Seong-yo, Director General of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport’s Land and Urban Office, explaining that Pohang is the optimal site for the ‘Corporate Innovation Park Leading Project’ selection. The Corporate Innovation Park is a region where urban regulations are relaxed to allow companies to freely develop and invest, and it is one of the 110 national tasks of the Yoon Seok-yeol administration.

Mayor Lee Kang-deok said, “Although internal and external crises continue, we plan to devote all efforts this year to fostering new growth industries and building infrastructure for Pohang’s new future,” adding, “To this end, we will do our best to secure national funding and draw support from central government ministries.”

Pohang City plans to hold a 2024 national funding acquisition briefing session in February and will strategically pursue national funding acquisition in line with the government’s budget formulation schedule.