50th Anniversary Ceremony of Changwon National Industrial Complex Designation
Prime Minister Han Duck-soo stated on the 24th, "We will promptly carry out related procedures such as preliminary feasibility studies and industrial complex planning to ensure the swift establishment of the 'Changwon 2nd National Industrial Complex' to foster the defense and nuclear power industries."
At the ceremony commemorating the 50th anniversary of the designation of the Changwon National Industrial Complex held at the Changwon Convention Center that morning, Prime Minister Han said, "We will further strengthen financial support, tax benefits, and research and development (R&D) assistance to help the nuclear power industry, which had been stagnant due to the previous nuclear phase-out policy, to make a leap forward."
He pointed out, "Korea's manufacturing industry, which has been the foundation of our economy and the basis for innovative growth, is currently at a critical crossroads," adding, "With the advancement of digital technology and structural transformation due to carbon neutrality, combined with factors such as export declines caused by the global economic downturn, the vitality of our manufacturing industry is generally declining."
He continued, "Since our manufacturing industry remains a strong pillar of the national economy and is still very important, we must revive the vitality of our economy through innovation in manufacturing," and explained, "The future vision of the Changwon National Industrial Complex presented here today is expected to be the starting point for this."
Prime Minister Han also said he would actively support the digital transformation of resident companies to accelerate innovation and create a culture-oriented industrial complex that attracts young talent.
He emphasized, "This year, we will newly support the establishment of a digital transformation (DX) support center for machinery and defense manufacturing, as well as the development and demonstration projects of manufacturing-specialized super-large artificial intelligence (AI) services," adding, "The government also plans to establish an 'AI Autonomous Manufacturing Master Plan' within the first half of this year." The government expects productivity to improve through these efforts.
Additionally, Prime Minister Han stated, "We will boldly lift uniform use regulations and industry restrictions and promote the Sanridan-gil project to improve the industrial complex into a youth-friendly area," and added, "while expanding high-quality advanced new industry jobs preferred by young people, we will also expand residential spaces such as industrial complex-type happy housing and worker officetels."
The Changwon National Industrial Complex was launched in April 1974 when Korea was striving to develop heavy and chemical industries and expand exports. Since then, it has led the growth of Korea's key industries such as automobiles, shipbuilding, nuclear power, and defense. The production value of resident companies here increased 40,000 times from 1.5 billion KRW in 1975 to 60 trillion KRW last year, and exports grew more than 30,000 times from 600,000 USD to 18.3 billion USD during the same period.
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
