Hydrogen Companies in Korea, Come Here! ... Ulsan Free Economic Zone Authority Calls for Role as Hydrogen Industry Platform

Visited over 50 Companies and Institutions Since Opening Earlier This Year, Continuing 'Offensive' in the Second Half

On January 14th of this year, the Ulsan Economic Free Zone Authority opening ceremony was held in Nam-gu, Ulsan. [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Kim Yong-woo] “Hydrogen companies, come to Ulsan Free Economic Zone! We will support you wholeheartedly.”

Since opening earlier this year, the Ulsan Free Economic Zone Authority has been actively making ‘love calls’ to hydrogen companies.

Since its inauguration on January 14, it has been visiting over 50 domestic hydrogen companies and institutions over the past six months to promote investment attraction activities.

The Ulsan Free Economic Zone Authority started with local companies and then visited companies headquartered in the metropolitan area, as well as companies in the Busan and Jeolla regions, to understand the industrial status and future investment plans and to introduce the Ulsan Free Economic Zone.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, they also held video conferences and continued ‘postal courting’ by sending brochures and newsletters.

They also visited the Incheon, Busan, and Jinhae Free Economic Zone Authorities, which are currently transforming into international cities, to share investment attraction strategies and experiences, and held meetings to share investment attraction strategies with the newly established Gwangju Free Economic Zone Authority.

They held meetings with local partners such as Ulsan Technopark, Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST), and officials from the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy to discuss the development direction of the Free Economic Zone and the difficulties faced by resident companies.

The Ulsan Free Economic Zone Authority will continue these activities in the second half of the year.

First, they plan to visit key target companies identified through an investment attraction service jointly conducted with KOTRA, as well as 11 hydrogen-specialized companies selected by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy in June.

They will set up promotional booths at the ‘Hydrogen Mobility+ Show’ held in Ilsan, Gyeonggi Province in September, and the ‘International Hydrogen Energy Exhibition and Forum’ held in Ulsan in November to introduce incentives of the Ulsan Free Economic Zone and conduct one-on-one consultations with participating companies.

In October, they plan to dispatch a delegation to the Hydrogen Industry Exhibition (HyVolution) held in Paris, France, to introduce the Ulsan hydrogen industry ecosystem and hold presentations, seminars, and operate a promotional booth to attract domestic investment from French and European hydrogen companies.

Kim Dong-gyu, head of the Investment Attraction Department, said, “The Ulsan Free Economic Zone Authority is an organization with the advantage of being able to market more innovatively and diversely, and we will actively carry out investment attraction activities with creative ideas.”

The Ulsan Free Economic Zone Authority achieved a result in June, just five months after its opening, by signing a memorandum of understanding for a 120 billion KRW investment to expand the secondary battery cathode material production facility with SMLab.

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