Yeonggwang-gun Designated as 'Barley and Mosit Leaf Industry Special Zone'

[Yeonggwang=Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters reporter Lee Jeonseong] Yeonggwang-gun, Jeollanam-do (Governor Kim Junsung) announced on the 21st that through the 49th Regional Specialized Development Special Zone Committee review of the Ministry of SMEs and Startups (hereinafter referred to as the Ministry of SMEs), the Barley Industry Special Zone has been re-designated as the ‘Barley and Mosip Leaf Special Zone.’

Since the designation of the Barley Industry Special Zone in 2010, the county has prepared special measures to alleviate difficulties faced by barley farming households following the abolition of the barley purchase system in 2012, and has contributed to increasing local income by enhancing the brand value of Yeonggwang barley.

Meanwhile, last year, in an effort to foster an industry utilizing mosip leaves, which have the largest production base nationwide, the county proposed an application to the Ministry of SMEs for the ‘Yeonggwang Mosip Leaf Songpyeon Tourism Experience Special Zone,’ but faced difficulties in designation due to the ministry’s policy of designating special zones mainly focused on job creation and industrialization.

As a result of continuous consultations with the Ministry of SMEs, it was finally agreed to change the plan to a ‘Barley and Mosip Leaf Industry Special Zone’ by integrating the existing barley special zone with the mosip leaf industry to advance the barley and mosip leaf industries.

Through discovering regionally specialized projects and regulatory exemptions, the plan change was finally approved by the Ministry of SMEs Special Zone Committee.

The main contents include five specialized projects in two fields: in the ‘Barley Industry field,’ ▲ barley food processing industry ▲ barley production and resource utilization ▲ activation of barley convergence industry; and in the ‘Mosip Leaf Industry field,’ ▲ establishment of mosip leaf production and processing infrastructure ▲ operation and marketing activation of mosip leaf songpyeon.

Governor Kim Junsung said, “With the designation of the Yeonggwang Barley and Mosip Leaf Industry Special Zone, we expect it to greatly contribute to revitalizing the local economy through strengthening the barley and mosip leaf brands, creating jobs, and increasing farmers’ income.”

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