Changwon Chamber of Commerce Criticizes Ministry of Land and KORAIL... "No Allowance for Overseas Bidders Without Domestic Company Protection Measures"

Call for Policy Consideration for Domestic Companies in 'EMU-320' Bidding and Others

Gyeongnam Changwon Chamber of Commerce and Industry. / Photo by Se-ryeong Lee ryeong@

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Lee Se-ryeong] On the 6th, the Changwon Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Gyeongnam proposed to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and Korea Railroad Corporation (KORAIL) the domestic introduction and operation of high-speed train cars made with domestic technology.

According to Changwon Chamber of Commerce, KORAIL is preparing to purchase the distributed power high-speed vehicle ‘EMU-320’ to be deployed on the Pyeongtaek-Osong line, scheduled to open in 2027.

The Chamber sent a proposal stating, “In order to maintain the technological capability of the high-speed vehicle industry, which is a national key industry, and to stabilize the management of related companies, policy consideration should be made so that high-speed train cars made purely with domestic technology can be introduced and operated on the domestic railway network.”

They also said, “With this bidding news, the industrial sector in Changwon and the Gyeongnam region, where the railway industry is concentrated, expects it to be an opportunity to confirm the technological capability of the Korean-style distributed power high-speed vehicle, which has been stabilized through public-private investment.”

According to the Chamber, the qualification conditions for participating in the bidding for the high-speed vehicle order project have been relaxed, and it is known that Talgo, a Spanish high-speed train manufacturer, is entering the bidding.

Related industries expect Talgo to participate in the bidding project for distributed power high-speed vehicles, including 120 EMU-320 high-speed vehicles for the Pyeongtaek-Osong line ordered by KORAIL and 16 vehicles departing from Suwon and Incheon.

The Chamber said, “The relaxation of bidding conditions brings both hope and anxiety to high-speed train vehicle and parts companies that have been struggling due to the COVID-19 crisis and lack of orders.”

They added, “The railway industry is a technology-intensive industry with high interconnection to downstream industries, but due to the nature of the key industry, demand occurs intermittently. Therefore, to create an ecosystem and maintain technology in related industries, not only the efforts of private companies but also policy consideration from the government providing railway infrastructure is necessary.”

They also stated, “Despite possessing purely domestic technology for manufacturing high-speed vehicles achieved through countless hours, manpower, and resources, allowing overseas companies to participate in bidding without any institutional protection measures is interpreted as a lack of will to protect and foster the national key industry.”

Quoting the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport’s announcement at the National Railway Industry Cluster business briefing, the Chamber sharply criticized, “It is judged to be contrary to the government’s industrial policy direction emphasizing the need to innovate the low market share and fragile industrial base in the global market and to expand domestic demand and exports.”

They also emphasized, “Since the railway industry has high entry barriers in each country, if domestic complete vehicle manufacturers fail to win orders, the domestic railway vehicle parts industry, which accounts for more than 96% of small businesses with fewer than 50 employees, will face intensified management difficulties, making it even harder to maintain employment for workers.”

A representative of the Changwon Chamber said, “Not only high-speed rail but countries possessing accumulated key industry technology are competing to set up barriers to protect their domestic technology. We also need to make greater efforts to maintain and grow domestic industry and technological capabilities.”

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