Gwangyang City Accelerates Construction of Small and Medium Enterprise Training Center in the South Sea Southern Central Region

Total Project Cost of 29.4 Billion KRW, Urban Training Center Scheduled to Open in 2025

Expected to Provide Specialized Regional Education in Steel, Petrochemicals, Aerospace, and the 4th Industrial Revolution

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters, Reporter Heo Seon-sik] On the 23rd, Gwangyang City in Jeollanam-do announced that the construction of the Namhaean Southern Central Region Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) Training Center, which will play a key role in nurturing specialized personnel for SMEs in the Gwangyang Bay area and strengthening competitiveness, has officially begun.

The training center, with a total project cost of 29.4 billion KRW, will be funded by 28.6 billion KRW from the national government and 800 million KRW from Gwangyang City (providing the site), and will be operated by the Korea SMEs and Startups Agency under the Ministry of SMEs and Startups.

The Ministry of SMEs and Startups completed a feasibility study for the construction of the SME training center this year and included a budget of 400 million KRW for the basic survey in 2022, enabling the SME training center to open in Gwangyang.

Next year’s basic survey will finalize the project site and determine the scale and specific project details of the training center. In 2023, a budget of 400 million KRW for detailed design work is expected to be allocated, with construction starting in 2024 and completion scheduled for 2025.

Until now, Gwangyang City has made multifaceted efforts since 2017 to attract the SME training center to expand the poor corporate education infrastructure specialized in materials industries (steel, petrochemicals, defense industry, aerospace, etc.) in the Gwangyang Bay area.

In particular, in 2019, the Namhaean Southern Central Region Development Council, consisting of nine mayors and county heads from Yeosu, Suncheon, Jinju, Sacheon, and others, drafted a joint petition requesting the attraction of the training center and submitted it to the relevant authorities.

Since last year, Jeollanam-do and Gwangyang City have actively persuaded the National Assembly, Ministry of Strategy and Finance, and Ministry of SMEs and Startups on the necessity of constructing the training center, achieving this result through persistent efforts, which has drawn further attention.

Although more than 100,000 workers and 5,000 companies have settled in the Gwangyang Bay national and general industrial complexes, there has been a lack of training facilities, resulting in insufficient provision of quality educational services to entrepreneurs and workers.

Once the SME training center is established, it plans to operate as an institution for nurturing high-level personnel who will play a major role in the Fourth Industrial Revolution by organizing differentiated curricula focused on steel, petrochemicals, aerospace, and defense industries, and discovering specialized programs such as artificial intelligence, big data, and non-face-to-face industries.

Existing training centers used by SMEs in other regions have low accessibility due to long distances and mainly offer general education, but the new center will provide on-site customized specialized training tailored to the needs of manufacturing industries concentrated in the Gwangyang Bay area.

Deputy Mayor Kim Kyung-ho said, “The SME training center to be built in Gwangyang is planned as an urban-type facility, and we expect it to greatly help not only in nurturing regionally customized specialized personnel but also in boosting the local economy,” adding, “We will spare no administrative support to ensure the training center satisfies both companies and workers.”

Meanwhile, the Korea SMEs and Startups Agency operates six SME training centers nationwide, with one under construction, offering programs such as CEO courses, smart convergence, technology and quality, e-learning training, and customized corporate training programs.

Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters, Reporter Heo Seon-sik hss79@asiae.co.kr

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