Jeonnam Province Focuses on Investment Capacity to Attract Energy Valley Companies

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Yoon Jamin] Jeonnam Province (Governor Kim Young-rok) announced on the 12th that it will focus its investment capabilities on attracting companies to the Energy Valley to prepare for the 'post-COVID-19' era and respond to structural changes in future industries.

KEPCO and local governments are actively conducting investment attraction activities to achieve the goal of attracting 500 companies to the Energy Valley, which is being developed around the Gwangju-Jeonnam Joint Innovation City by the end of this year. Currently, 465 companies have been attracted, achieving 93% of the target.

Despite difficult investment conditions such as domestic and international economic downturns caused by COVID-19, the province plans to sign investment attraction agreements with 35 companies for the Energy Valley in the first half of this year. The scale includes an investment of 364 billion KRW and the creation of 537 jobs.

Along with this, a business agreement will be made with Korea Polytechnic University (Gwangju Campus) and Gwangju Human Resources Development Institute to train specialized personnel for Energy Valley companies, contributing to workforce supply and strengthening corporate competitiveness.

The agreement will be conducted non-face-to-face considering the COVID-19 pandemic, and is planned to be completed by the end of this month.

Going forward, Bitgaram Energy Valley is expected to play a key role in establishing the future growth foundation of South Korea amid the arrival of the 4th Industrial Revolution era and the restructuring of future industry structures due to COVID-19.

In addition, the province plans to systematically build an institutional foundation by clustering energy companies and research institutes together with KEPCO and other energy public enterprises, and through designations such as the Energy Industry-Academia Convergence Complex, Regulatory Free Zones, and Small but Strong R&D Special Zones.

Bae Taek-hyu, Head of Jeonnam Province Job Policy Headquarters, said, “Although the economy is in a difficult situation due to the pandemic, energy is the main industry of future food industries, so we will turn this crisis into an opportunity and a turning point,” and added, “We will devote all efforts to the development and support of the Energy Valley to ensure it does not lose vitality.”

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