Gwangju TP Lays Foundation for Future Urban Air Mobility Industry Development

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Park Jin-hyung] Gwangju Technopark announced on the 22nd that it has laid the groundwork for supporting companies to revitalize the home appliance industry, a key local industry, and for fostering the urban air mobility (UAM) industry, a future growth sector.

The Gwangju TP Mechanical and Electronic Industry Support Center, as the executing agency for the "Employment Stability Preemptive Response Package Support Project" from 2021 to 2025, is promoting support programs to enhance product competitiveness by upgrading products through the integration of AI technology into products owned by local small and medium-sized home appliance companies. In addition, it provides recruitment support necessary for job changes, career transitions, and redeployment of workers related to the home appliance industry to recover the weakened employment sentiment.

Furthermore, with active support from Gwangju City, a total project cost of 10.5 billion KRW is being invested in the Gwangju TP Complex 2 to intensively foster the UAM industry, which is emerging globally as a future growth industry. The basic and detailed design of the UAM Demonstration Promotion Center was completed in the first half of this year, and construction is scheduled to begin in the second half.

The UAM Demonstration Promotion Center will be equipped with various facilities for performance evaluation, reliability testing, and demonstration support of products ranging from small and medium-sized drones to large UAM vehicles. It will also include a comprehensive flight control room, company office spaces, and education/experience facilities.

The center is adjacent to the "Drone National Certification Practical Test Site" established in Daechon-dong, Buk-gu, and the "Drone Special Free Zone" designated in the Cheomdan and Yeongsangang areas of Buk-gu. This proximity will enable the operation of various linked programs to create a drone industry cluster and an ecosystem involving citizens in the region.

Kim Sun-min, Director of Gwangju TP, said, "The urban air mobility industry is rapidly approaching us as a future transportation means to solve ground traffic congestion in densely populated urban areas." He added, "We will strive to establish it as a representative high value-added industry of Gwangju City by linking it with artificial intelligence and local key industries."

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