Cold Chain, Robotics, Smart Transportation Devices, and Hydrogen
Focusing on Four Key Tasks to Create Future Growth Engines
"Cold chain, robotics, smart transportation devices, and hydrogen energy."
The Busan-Jinhae Free Economic Zone Authority (Commissioner Park Sungho) is beginning full-scale efforts to foster strategic industries and key items.
On June 17, the Authority held the '1st BJFEZ Innovation Alliance' at its main conference hall, marking the first step toward nurturing core industries. The meeting was attended by 15 participants, including Commissioner Park Sungho, representatives from Busan Technopark, Gyeongnam Technopark, the Korea Maritime Institute, the Korea Automotive Technology Institute, and local university experts.
During the meeting, current issues in the BJFEZ's key focus areas were shared, including the cold chain, robotics, smart transportation devices, and hydrogen energy.
In the cold chain industry, participants discussed the need to establish a fisheries cold chain cluster based on the seafood processing and distribution infrastructure at Busan Port, as well as the necessity of linking with the Gyeongnam Fisheries By-products Regulation-Free Special Zone. There was a suggestion to lay the foundation for high value-added creation by attracting core companies that would support the transportation and utilization of seafood processing by-products.
In the robotics industry, discussions focused on localizing technology centered on logistics robots and reducing dependence on imports. There was a proposal to supplement the supply chain, which is currently centered on Europe and China, by linking regional demonstration infrastructure with small but strong component companies.
Additionally, in the smart transportation devices sector, participants discussed building an industrial belt connecting Busan's maritime logistics industry with Gyeongnam's future automotive parts industry. In the hydrogen energy sector, they discussed securing infrastructure to accommodate imported hydrogen and developing strategies to meet electricity demand.
The Authority plans to operate specialized committees for each sector based on urgency and feasibility, to develop concrete policy tasks and to establish cooperative systems with both cities and provinces.
Commissioner Park stated, "To effectively foster BJFEZ's strategic industries in a rapidly changing industrial environment, we need concrete policy tasks," adding, "We will enhance policy execution capabilities based on collaboration among industry, academia, research, and government."
The Authority plans to hold a comprehensive forum in November to derive implementation plans, and then begin full-scale promotion starting in 2026.
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
