Chungnam to Complete Draft Plan for Seafood Food Cluster Within the Year

[Asia Economy (Hongseong) Reporter Jeong Il-woong] Chungnam Province plans to complete the blueprint for establishing a seafood food cluster by the end of this year.

The province announced on the 18th that it recently held a kickoff meeting for the "Study on Establishing the Basic Plan and Feasibility Survey for the Seafood Food Cluster."

The seafood food cluster is a collective formed by concentrating seafood food industry-related companies, research institutes, universities, and business support facilities in a specific area to generate synergy effects through mutual linkage.

In line with recent consumer patterns showing increased demand for convenience foods, the province urgently secured a budget of 150 million KRW and plans to conduct the study until the end of the year to finalize the basic plan for the seafood food cluster.

The study focuses on preparing future growth strategies such as adding high value to seafood products and modernizing production and processing facilities, as well as establishing detailed action plans tailored to the regional environment.

The spatial scope of the seafood food cluster is the coastal cities and counties of Chungnam, and the main contents of the study include ▲ changes and prospects of domestic and international seafood food industry conditions ▲ analysis of Chungnam’s seafood food industry status and potential ▲ related domestic and international cases and policy relevance ▲ site analysis for Chungnam seafood food export processing cluster ▲ basic and detailed plans ▲ spatial planning ▲ feasibility analysis, among others.

The Chungnam-type seafood food cluster is planned to be developed with a budget of 120 billion KRW over an estimated total area of 29,700㎡, focusing on establishing an Internet of Things (IoT) smart logistics warehouse, Digital Twin processing facilities, a seafood food research and development (R&D) center, a startup and incubation center, and a trade support center.

After establishment, it will provide integrated support throughout the entire cycle from production to processing, distribution, and export. Additionally, it will establish a system supporting strict international-level quality, hygiene, and standard management such as HACCP.

Previously, Chungnam set a record last year by surpassing 100 million USD in regional seafood food exports for the first time. Building on this momentum, the province plans to invest about 200 billion KRW over the next six years to achieve the goal of annual seafood food exports exceeding 300 million USD in ten years.

Jo Won-gap, Director of the Marine Fisheries Bureau of Chungnam Province, said, “Until now, Chungnam had few processing companies capable of utilizing seafood resources, resulting in limitations in expanding the added value of seafood by mainly conducting raw material supply-centered local auctions or using large-scale processing plants in other cities and provinces. However, once the seafood food cluster is established, Chungnam is expected to create high added value with premium seafood products, diversify exports, and gain global competitiveness in the fisheries sector.”

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