Gwangju Mayor Lee Yong-seop: "A New Era for Business is Opening"

Attended Gwangju Chamber of Commerce New Year's Meeting and Announced Key Projects

Gwangju Mayor Lee Yong-seop is attending the 'Gwangju Chamber of Commerce and Industry New Year's Meeting' on the 3rd and is taking a commemorative photo. Photo by Gwangju Metropolitan City

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Park Seon-gang] “The era of ‘Gwangju, a city good for business and attractive for investment’ is opening through proactive responses to future industries. A golden opportunity has come for businesspeople to freely challenge themselves and realize their dreams.”

On the morning of the 3rd, Gwangju Mayor Lee Yong-seop attended the ‘2020 Gwangju Chamber of Commerce and Industry New Year Meeting’ held at the Kim Dae-jung Convention Center, with about 600 attendees including Jeong Chang-seon, Chairman of the Gwangju Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Yoon Byung-tae, Political Deputy Governor of Jeonnam Province, and local businesspeople. He made these remarks and explained the major projects Gwangju will pursue this year, urging the participation of entrepreneurs.

The mayor stated, “From this year, tangible results that citizens and businesspeople can feel, such as job creation, income increase, and revitalization of the local economy, will begin to appear in earnest,” and asserted, “This year will be the first year for Gwangju to leap from Korea’s political hub to its economic hub.”

He went on to explain ▲ Realizing Gwangju as an AI-centered city ▲ Construction of the automobile factory of Gwangju Global Motors Co., Ltd., based on labor-management coexistence ▲ Construction of Urban Railway Line 2 ▲ Massive investment attraction through designation as an Economic Free Zone ▲ Making Gwangju a good city to raise children ▲ Fact-finding and globalization of the May 18 Democratic Movement ▲ Win-win cooperation between Gwangju and Jeonnam.

In particular, he emphasized again, “The designation of industrial complexes including the Advanced 3rd Industrial Complex as research and development special zones, economic free zones, and regulatory free zones will serve as a catalyst to create ‘Gwangju, a city good for business and attractive for investment.’ By attracting as many as 68 important national projects, a golden opportunity has come for businesspeople to freely challenge themselves and realize their dreams.”

The mayor said, “This year will be the first year to officially open the ‘AI Gwangju era.’ Since Gwangju will be equipped with core AI infrastructures such as AI research institutes, public data centers, and supercomputers, I hope local businesspeople actively utilize these infrastructures and enjoy many benefits.”

He also promised, “Gwangju will become a city that supports small business owners and self-employed people by revitalizing traditional markets and alleyway commercial districts so that money in Gwangju circulates within the city and revitalizes the local economy instead of leaking outside.”

Especially, Mayor Lee Yong-seop introduced meaningful changes occurring in Gwangju.

First, he introduced that the economic growth rate increased by a remarkable 5.2% in 2018 (national average 2.8%), and the per capita Gross Regional Domestic Product (GRDP) also increased by 5.6% in 2018 compared to 2017, ranking first among special and metropolitan cities in both fields.

He also informed that the number of people leaving Gwangju is gradually decreasing.

In fact, the net outflow of population from Gwangju decreased significantly from 8,118 in 2017 to 6,216 in 2018, and to 1,494 as of the end of November 2019.

On the other hand, the number of people seeking jobs in Gwangju is increasing (number of employed persons: 747,000 in 2017 → 762,000 in 2019 / employment rate: 59.2% in 2017 → 60.2% in 2019), showing meaningful changes in citizens’ lives.

The mayor said, “I give a hearty round of applause to local small and medium-sized enterprises for their will to overcome the uncertain and challenging business environment and to make a new leap forward,” and added, “I will also devote all my passion and sincerity with a sense of historical mission to establish Gwangju as the future of Korea.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.