A 1 Million Pyeong-Scale 'Future Car National Industrial Complex' to Be Established in Gwangju

Achievement of Attracting a New National Industrial Complex After 14 Years

Maximizing Efficiency by Concentrating Future Car Industry

A future car national industrial complex spanning 1 million pyeong will be established in Gwangju Metropolitan City. This achievement marks the successful attraction of a new national industrial complex for the first time in 14 years since the designation of Bitgreen National Industrial Complex in 2009.

Gwangju City (Mayor Kang Gi-jung) announced on the 15th that the Gwangju Future Car National Industrial Complex was included in the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport’s ‘Final Candidates for New National Industrial Complexes.’

As a result, it is evaluated that the ‘Kang Gi-jung administration’s’ first step toward building a new economy based on future industries has been taken vigorously.

The future car national industrial complex will be developed near the Bitgreen National Industrial Complex on a scale of 1 million pyeong. Gwangju City plans to cluster future car industries such as electric vehicles, hydrogen vehicles, autonomous vehicles, and batteries here to maximize efficiency.

The Bitgreen National Industrial Complex, dedicated to automobiles, has reached saturation with a sales rate of 91%, making it difficult to build and cluster future car infrastructure. Considering that the development period for national industrial complexes usually takes more than 10 years, a new national industrial complex was both necessary and urgent.

Accordingly, Gwangju City participated in the new national industrial complex competition last October and succeeded in attracting the new national industrial complex after fierce competition with 19 local governments through document evaluation, on-site inspection, comprehensive evaluation, and final review.

In particular, Mayor Kang Gi-jung personally gave briefings during the on-site inspection to persuade the necessity and urgency of establishing the future car national industrial complex. Additionally, the dedicated efforts of Chairman Jo Hwan-ik and the Mobility Industry Innovation Promotion Committee, local members of the National Assembly and city council members, as well as the aspirations of Gwangju citizens, greatly contributed to attracting the new national industrial complex.

Gwangju City is South Korea’s second-largest automobile production city with an annual production capacity of 720,000 vehicles. The automobile industry accounts for 43.1% of the region’s manufacturing sales, and more than 20,000 people are employed in related fields.

However, the automobile industry is facing a massive transformation?from traditional internal combustion engine vehicles to eco-friendly vehicles and autonomous vehicles. It is a major shift to future cars.

Already, 11 countries have officially announced the cessation of internal combustion engine vehicle sales. Germany, China, Japan, the United Kingdom, and Norway have joined the ranks. Global companies such as BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Volkswagen, and General Motors have also joined the change.

According to the Paris Agreement on climate change, countries must achieve carbon neutrality by 2050. Considering vehicle durability, this effectively means that new sales of internal combustion engine vehicles will be halted in about 10 years.

Furthermore, Waymo, an autonomous driving company supported by Google, is testing driverless taxis, and Tesla is accelerating technology development. Experts predict that autonomous vehicles will appear on the market on a large scale between 2030 and 2040.

Thus, the future car industry is rapidly changing. This poses a crisis for small local parts companies. However, Gwangju City expects that if it prepares firmly for the future, these changes will become a great opportunity. Unlike internal combustion engine vehicles, future cars have a structure where anyone can compete on an equal footing.

The city plans to first develop the future car national industrial complex as quickly as possible, considering the urgency of future car industry demand.

It will link the future car national industrial complex with the existing Bitgreen National Industrial Complex and Jingok Industrial Complex, fuse related industries, and expand a future car industrial ecosystem where future car-related companies and infrastructure are clustered, forming a perfect future car industry value chain.

Next, the city will actively support local parts companies to respond to changes in the future car industry. Since the number of parts used in electric vehicles is only about half that of internal combustion engine vehicles, small local parts companies are expected to suffer significant impacts.

Therefore, the city plans to focus on strengthening capabilities by supporting business restructuring and transformation of local parts companies, providing financial support, customized consulting, and establishing a comprehensive support center.

The city will also actively engage in developing core future car technologies. It will advance AI-based sensor technology and establish a future car parts certification center. Demonstration projects such as fostering ultra-connected mobility service industries and building autonomous driving circuit roads will be promoted, along with establishing a future car technology development support center and a digital-based commercialization platform.

Mayor Kang Gi-jung of Gwangju said, “Although becoming a leading future car city may be both a dream and a crisis for us now, if we prepare firmly for the coming future, it will become a great opportunity tomorrow.” He emphasized, “We will develop the future car national industrial complex as quickly as possible to expand the industrial base, and utilize various urban areas as testbeds to create South Korea’s number one future car industry city by integrating AI and big data with autonomous driving and urban air mobility (UAM).”

Meanwhile, Gwangju City plans to hold a ‘Future Car Vision Declaration Ceremony’ at the end of this month to announce mid- to long-term plans for realizing a leading future car city, including expanding industrial infrastructure, strengthening local parts companies’ capabilities, and developing core future car technologies.

Next month, through the Mobility Industry Innovation Promotion Committee (Chairman Jo Hwan-ik), the city will collect comprehensive opinions from industry, academia, research, and government sectors to enhance feasibility.

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