Yeongam-gun Signs Agreement with UK’s Preston City, a Model of 'Local Circular Economy'

Production, Investment, Job Creation... Joint Efforts to Revitalize the Local Economy

Yeongam-gun, Jeollanam-do (Governor Woo Seung-hee) has signed a friendship exchange agreement with Preston City in the United Kingdom, renowned worldwide for its 'local circular economy.'

According to the county on the 4th, Preston City in the UK, with a population of 150,000, is a city that revived a declining area suffering from manufacturing stagnation by implementing a community asset-building strategy through a 'local circular economy' that connects production, investment, and jobs. It has gained global recognition under the name 'Preston Model.'

Yeongam County signed a friendship exchange agreement with Preston City, UK.
[Photo by Yeongam County]

Yeongam-gun, which has established its first relationship with a European city, agreed through this pact to strengthen mutual exchange and cooperation and to make joint efforts to revitalize the local economy.

On the 27th of last month, the Yeongam-gun delegation visiting Preston City formed a partnership with Matthew Brown, Chairman of the Preston City Council.

The delegation, on an 8-day, 5-night trip visiting Preston and Bologna, Italy, also attended the 'Preston Model' conference at the University of Central Lancashire, in addition to this agreement.

In Bologna, they learned about social economy and local circular economy expertise by visiting 'Pico Iblei World,' a hub for cultural creative startups and agri-food industry clusters.

A representative of the Yeongam-gun delegation stated, “We will accelerate the creation of a ‘Yeongam-type local economy model’ that overcomes the crisis of local extinction and achieves sustainable development through the know-how learned in Preston and Bologna and strong solidarity among global regions. Expanding Yeongam-gun’s international exchanges from Northeast Asia, including China and Japan, to Europe is also a significant outcome of this visit.”

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