On the 28th, Busan City announced plans to newly designate the Songjeong District (located in Songjeong-dong, Gangseo-gu, Busan) of the Busan-Jinhae Free Economic Zone, which has been undeveloped for a long time, as a new free economic zone.
The Songjeong District of the Busan-Jinhae Free Economic Zone will be deregulated as of August 5th, and the nearby former Hwajeon Sports Park site and the Gadukdo area will be developed into a complex logistics complex linked with the creation of the Gadukdo New Airport Air City.
Since April of this year, Busan City and the Busan-Jinhae Free Economic Zone Authority have been conducting a project to newly designate ▲Gadukdo Airport Air City and ▲Hwajeon 2 District (tentative name) as free economic zones, investing 2 billion KRW and 1 billion KRW respectively from city funds.
Of the Busan-Jinhae Free Economic Zone (50.7㎢), the Busan area (31㎢) has a development rate of 97% and a sales rate of 91%, with most of the development completed, raising the need for expansion due to a shortage of land for attracting companies.
On the other hand, the Songjeong District, the only undeveloped area remaining, is facing delays in the relocation of railway facilities to the north, and the southern site is limited to about 70,000 pyeong, making the project unfeasible. As a result, the majority of residents are strongly requesting the deregulation of the free economic zone designation.
Officials from Busan City and the Free Economic Zone Authority stated that by promoting Gadukdo, the center of the airport-port-rail tri-port, and the former Hwajeon Sports Park site as free economic zones, it is expected to secure the lacking logistics sites in Busan and create a complex logistics industry site linked with the airport, which will also attract international logistics companies.
This will not only strengthen the ecosystem of the new aviation logistics industry but also prevent the outflow of local youth and highly skilled workers to the metropolitan area, creating a virtuous cycle of job creation as high-level talent concentrates in Busan.
A city official added that despite rapid development around the free economic zone and significant investment attraction achievements, the current development sites are severely insufficient. The expansion of the free economic zone designation is expected to improve the business environment for foreign-invested companies and domestic returning companies and help attract more businesses.
Mayor Park Hyung-jun emphasized, “The Busan-Jinhae Free Economic Zone has served as a growth engine for Busan, and when linked with the airport complex city, I firmly believe it will become the premier airport complex free economic zone in Northeast Asia.” He added, “We will focus all our capabilities to ensure smooth development around the Gadukdo New Airport and closely cooperate with central government ministries such as the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy and the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport to push this forward.”
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