Busan City Signs Agreement to Establish Region-Led Future Car Ecosystem

Renault Korea·Automotive Parts Industry Cooperative·Busan-Ulsan-Gyeongnam Council·TP

Business Agreement Signed at 11 AM on the 22nd at Busan Eurasia Platform

On the 22nd at 11 a.m., Busan City signed a business agreement on the establishment of the Busan future car industry ecosystem at the Busan Eurasia Platform (located at Busan Station, Dong-gu), with the participation of Busan City, Renault Korea Motors, Busan Automotive Parts Industry Cooperative, the Council of Industry-Academia Cooperation Directors of Universities in the Busan-Ulsan-Gyeongnam region, and Busan Technopark.

On the 22nd, a commemorative photo was taken at the Eurasia Platform of Busan Station for the 'Establishment of Busan City's Future Car Industry Ecosystem' MOU. (From left) Kim Hyung-gyun, Director of Busan TP; Lee Im-geon, Chairman of the Busan-Ulsan-Gyeongnam Regional University-Industry Cooperation Group; Park Hyung-joon, Mayor; Stephan De Vleesch, President of Renault Korea; Oh In-tae, Chairman of Busan Automotive Parts Industry Cooperative.
[Image source=Renault Korea]

At the signing ceremony, Mayor Park Hyung-joon and Renault Korea Motors CEO St?phane Deblaise, along with representatives from each participating organization, attended in person to sign the agreement.

This agreement was prepared to unite efforts and promote mutual cooperation in creating the Busan future car industry ecosystem in connection with Renault Korea Motors’ establishment of the provisional “Busan Eco Cluster Center.”

A Busan City official stated that this agreement is significant as a concrete and practical follow-up to the “Joint Effort Agreement for Building a Future Car Strategic Industry Ecosystem and Job Creation” announced with the Renault Group in September 2021.

The main contents of the agreement include: ▲ Busan City will provide administrative support to nurture talent and expand research and development for the future car industry; ▲ Renault Korea Motors will establish the provisional “Busan Eco Cluster Center” within its Busan plant to perform research and development functions, and will actively strive to strengthen mutual cooperation with the region and hire local talent through industry-academia-research collaboration. Additionally, ▲ Busan Automotive Parts Industry Cooperative will work on building a collaborative complex and ensuring smooth parts supply; ▲ the Council of Industry-Academia Cooperation Directors of Universities in the Busan-Ulsan-Gyeongnam region will create customized curricula and operate industry-academia cooperation programs; ▲ Busan Technopark will endeavor to establish a workforce development and research cooperation system based on industry-academia-research collaboration.

The city is actively responding through organic consultations with central government agencies to secure final selection for the national project “Establishment of Export-Driven Future Car Industry Innovation Growth Technology Support Infrastructure (2024?2027, 20 billion KRW),” which is being promoted in connection with Renault Korea Motors’ research center establishment. It also stated that follow-up support projects for the regional automotive industry’s transition to future cars are being prepared without delay.

Renault Korea Motors, at the Renault Group level, is exploring plans to establish a key export base for mid-to-large-sized vehicles in Korea and large-scale investment plans for this purpose. It is conducting close consultations with Busan City to attract related projects and plans to actively participate in research and development projects for the localization of electric vehicle parts.

Mayor Park Hyung-joon said, “This agreement is meaningful in that it utilizes the resources of government, industry, academia, and research to create a future car ecosystem led by the region, focusing on the automotive industry, which is a key local industry.” He added, “Through this agreement, we will further solidify the cooperation system among government, industry, academia, and research to lead the transition of the traditional automotive industry to the future car industry, and we will do our best to ensure that Busan firmly establishes itself as a global hub for future cars.”