"We will transform Changwon National Industrial Complex into Changwon Industrial Innovation Park to lead the next 50 years of South Korea's future and make Changwon the capital of the global digital cultural industrial complex."
On the 23rd, Hong Nampyo, Mayor of Changwon Special City, Gyeongnam, made this statement while unveiling goals and development strategies for the next 50 years of the Changwon National Industrial Complex, which marked its 50th anniversary since designation.
Mayor Hong said, "Our Changwon National Industrial Complex has been the economic vanguard leading Korea's modernization and industrialization," and explained, "We have prepared for another 50 years of the Changwon National Industrial Complex, which has been part of Changwon's history, and devised strategies to move toward the future."
He diagnosed that as the Changwon National Industrial Complex passes its 50th year, it faces a growth crisis due to delays in digital transformation suitable for the Fourth Industrial Revolution such as artificial intelligence (AI), weakened export competitiveness caused by a carbon-dependent energy structure, and the outflow of core talents, youth, and women to the metropolitan area due to talent development focused on production technical jobs.
In response, he announced the formation of a development council and the establishment of four strategies for the sustainable growth and development of the Changwon National Industrial Complex.
Hong Nampyo, Mayor of Changwon Special City in Gyeongnam, is explaining the goals and strategies for the next 50 years of the Changwon National Industrial Complex. [Photo by Lee Seryeong]
Changwon City plans to transform the Changwon National Industrial Complex into an industrial innovation park leading South Korea's next 50 years.
This signifies transforming the complex from a space solely for work into a space where all aspects of daily life take place, with core values of innovation, eco-friendliness, learning, and vitality.
The city will first create a world-class manufacturing innovation ecosystem in the Changwon National Industrial Complex through expanding smart factories, digital transformation (DX) of companies, attracting and clustering cutting-edge joint research and development facilities, equipment, and public institutions related to testing, inspection, and certification, and establishing a support system for technology startups, funds, and transactions.
By expanding the use of renewable energy such as solar, wind, and hydrogen, achieving zero energy in manufacturing processes, and establishing a water circulation system including recycling industrial complex water, the Changwon National Industrial Complex will become a leading carbon-neutral industrial complex.
It will become a learning industrial complex by campus-izing the complex, attracting excellent domestic and international educational and research institutions to nurture advanced industry talents, providing demand-tailored learning opportunities for women and specialized high schools, and promoting the dissemination of knowledge held by retirees such as master craftsmen.
Plans also include creating complex cultural spaces, shopping centers, and welfare centers within the industrial complex, and transforming Namcheon and Changwoncheon into resting spaces, achieving a cultural industrial complex where work and daily life coexist and culture and industry harmonize.
Mayor Hong said, "The core of this 50-year future plan for the Changwon National Industrial Complex is to infuse digital and culture into a manufacturing-centered national industrial complex," adding, "We will make it a sustainable value-creating complex, a place where innovation happens continuously, an eco-friendly complex, a learning complex that constantly develops new capabilities, and a vibrant complex where workers and newcomers from outside coexist and enjoy life."
He continued, "We will reflect the tram construction plan to ensure that industrial complex workers can commute comfortably and put more effort into securing parking spaces," and said, "We will also consider ways to increase general citizens' understanding of digitalization."
The strategy presentation was attended by related officials including Gu Jacheon, Chairman of the Changwon National Industrial Complex Development Council; Shin Gisu, Chairman of the Changwon National Industrial Complex Employers' Association; Park Byungkyu, Head of the Gyeongnam Headquarters of the Korea Industrial Complex Corporation; and Yoo Sehyun, Head of the Southeast Regional Headquarters of the Korea Electronics Technology Institute.
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