Lee Sangik, the mayor of Hampyeong County, is giving a speech at the policy vision tour. Photo by Hampyeong County
Hampyeong County in South Jeolla Province is expected to emerge as an ecological tourism city representing the future of the province, as well as a central hub in the southwest region leading the advanced materials industry.
On October 29, Hampyeong County announced that it recently held the "Hampyeong County Policy Vision Tour" at the Eoulrim Community Center in Hampyeong-eup. The event was attended by Kim Youngrok, Governor of South Jeolla Province, Lee Sangik, Mayor of Hampyeong County, Mo Jeonghwan, South Jeolla Provincial Assembly member, Lee Namoh, Chairman of the Hampyeong County Council, heads of local organizations, and around 100 representatives of youth and farmers.
The Policy Vision Tour is a policy roundtable that has evolved from South Jeolla Province's "Dialogue with Residents" program. It travels to all 22 cities and counties in the province to discuss key local issues and development policies. The vision tour in Hampyeong included presentations on the county's future vision, policy issue discussions, and input from local residents.
On this day, the county presented concrete development strategies across all sectors-including industry, agriculture and livestock, ecological tourism, and transportation infrastructure-to establish itself as a key local government driving Korea's future green growth.
The county also shared the progress of the "Hampyeong Future Regional Development Vision" project, jointly announced with South Jeolla Province in September 2023, which is valued at 1.8409 trillion won. By doing so, the county once again highlighted Hampyeong's growth potential and development possibilities to both the provincial government and local residents.
The Hampyeong Future Regional Development Vision project consists of 17 detailed initiatives across 6 sectors. Its goals include building a future advanced city linked to the Bitgreen Industrial Complex, creating an AI-powered advanced convergence livestock valley, and establishing a marine tourism hub. The aim is to develop a sustainable regional growth model that harmonizes industry, tourism, agriculture and livestock, and residential environments.
Additionally, the Jeonnam Research Institute unveiled "Eight Core Growth Strategies for the Next Decade," under the theme "Hampyeong: A K-Ecological City Inspired by Nature, Innovating Korea's Future Mobility and Livestock." This is expected to further accelerate the realization of Hampyeong's future vision.
The eight core visions are: ▲ Becoming the center of ultra-wide-area K-mobility at the Bitgreen Industrial Complex ▲ Creating the "Jeonnam-style Green Digital City" that encompasses RE100 industrial complexes, jobs, and residential environments ▲ Leading the transformation of K-livestock with Hampyeong as the center of AI-powered livestock ▲ Achieving 50 billion won in agricultural exports through the creation of the K-HC Food Valley ▲ Becoming an all-in-one city that advances through sports ▲ Establishing itself as Korea's leading ecological tourism city embracing nature ▲ Creating a marine healing workation destination near major cities ▲ Building a dense transportation network to become the central city of the southwest region.
During the subsequent policy discussion, various resident proposals were raised, including: ▲ Requesting support for the Hampyeong coastal road construction project ▲ Requesting small-scale drainage improvements in the Sonbul Wolcheon district ▲ Proposing the creation of a smart, eco-friendly, year-round fig production complex ▲ Expanding support for the creation of smart farming complexes in South Jeolla Province.
Governor Kim Youngrok stated, "I deeply empathize with Hampyeong County's vision and potential, and the province is also pursuing these vision projects in stages." He added, "We will allocate 1 billion won in next year's budget for the Hampyeong coastal road construction project, and will provide immediate support for the drainage improvement project in the Sonbul Wolcheon district to ensure prompt maintenance."
Mayor Lee Sangik said, "The eight future regional development visions announced today are a promise we have concretized together with the residents, and mark a new starting point for Hampyeong's leap forward. Moving forward, we will implement achievable policies in collaboration with the provincial government based on communication with residents, and create changes that can be felt by both county and provincial residents."
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