Jeonnam Province Accelerates Development of Future Transport 'e-Mobility' Industry

Secured 25.6 Billion KRW in National Funding

[Muan=Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters, Reporter Yoon Jamin] Jeonnam Province is accelerating the development of the future transportation e-mobility industry.

The province announced on the 3rd that it has secured 26.5 billion KRW in national funding this year, showing visible results in the core e-mobility industry of the ‘Blue Transport’ initiative aimed at becoming a hub for future transportation.

Since 2014, the province has focused on the growth potential of the e-mobility industry.

Centered around the Yeonggwang Daema Electric Vehicle Industrial Complex, it has been promoting the establishment of e-mobility industry infrastructure, research and development (R&D), and demonstration projects. It is proactively creating an industrial ecosystem along with the agglomeration of e-mobility-related institutions and companies.

With a total national budget of 26.5 billion KRW secured for the e-mobility sector this year, projects aimed at domestic production of core parts and the establishment of a full-scale mass production system will be steadily carried out.

The e-mobility industry ecosystem in the province is expected to expand smoothly.

In particular, the national budget for establishing a pilot production support base for ultra-small e-mobility parts has increased by 2 billion KRW from the previous year to 3.06 billion KRW, enabling the steady establishment of essential process facilities for mass production of shared parts for small and medium-sized enterprises.

A cooperative will be established through investment by e-mobility companies to allow SMEs to jointly utilize these facilities.

National funding for the development and demonstration of core technologies for personal mobility platforms has also increased by 1.94 billion KRW from the previous year to 4.85 billion KRW.

Four types of PM shared core parts?electric motorcycles, electric bicycles, electric kickboards, and electric wheelchairs?will be developed, and using these developed products, services supporting transportation linked with public transit will be developed, aiming for parts localization and discovering new business demonstration models.

Additionally, national funding related to the establishment of an electromagnetic wave certification evaluation system for future vehicles has increased by 1.05 billion KRW from the previous year to 4.03 billion KRW, enabling the timely construction of certification equipment according to the annual plan along with the groundbreaking of the electromagnetic wave testing and certification evaluation center.

Jeonnam Province was designated as the nation’s first e-mobility regulatory free zone in 2019, carrying out deregulation and improvement, and laying the foundation for fostering related industries through demonstration driving of ultra-small electric vehicles, revision of regulatory laws such as the Road Traffic Act, and commercialization support.

Based on this, investment agreements totaling 118.3 billion KRW were signed with seven companies including Korea High Tech Co., Ltd., attracting six related companies to the special zone, increasing sales by 64 billion KRW through new product development, hiring 137 new employees, and registering 25 intellectual property rights, achieving significant results.

Thanks to Jeonnam Province’s industrial promotion policies, related companies achieved export results of about 16,000 units worth 21.7 billion KRW as of the end of September last year.

This represents a 114% increase compared to 14,000 units and 19 billion KRW in exports during the same period last year, proving their contribution to the spread of e-mobility domestically and internationally.

A provincial official said, “Other local governments are also paying attention to the e-mobility industry, so the importance of comparative advantage and market preemption is increasing day by day. We will actively discover new projects and do our best to support companies so that Jeonnam can stand tall as a global e-mobility industry hub by securing superiority in all aspects including e-mobility technological competitiveness.”

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