Gwangyang City Strives to Secure Future Growth Engines Through Large-Scale Investment Attraction

Investment Agreement Worth 180 Billion KRW Signed at Metropolitan Area Briefing Session

On the 20th, Gwangyang City in Jeollanam-do announced that it signed a large-scale investment agreement with POSCO Future M Co., Ltd., Carbo Co., Ltd., and Worldcopter Korea Co., Ltd. at the 'Capital Region Investment Attraction Briefing' held at the Grand Hyatt Seoul Hotel.

At the briefing, Jeonnam Governor Kim Young-rok, Deputy Governor for Political Affairs Park Chang-hwan, Gwangyang Deputy Mayor Joo Soon-seon, along with Yeongam County Mayor Woo Seung-hee, Yeosu Deputy Mayor Kim Jong-gi, and about 150 representatives from companies and associations in the capital region attended, and investment agreements worth 1.049 trillion KRW were signed with seven companies.

[Photo provided by Gwangyang-si]

The event proceeded in the order of investment agreements, performances, and investment briefings.

The investment agreements included POSCO Future M Co., Ltd., Carbo Co., Ltd., and Worldcopter Korea Co., Ltd. committing to invest a total of 180 billion KRW in Gwangyang City and to faithfully implement plans to hire 404 local talents. Gwangyang City pledged to actively provide administrative support to ensure the successful investment of these companies.

POSCO Future M Co., Ltd. will establish an activated carbon production plant with an annual capacity of 8,000 tons by utilizing 32,000 tons per year of carbon by-products generated from the coke process at the Gwangyang Steelworks.

Activated carbon is a functional carbon material evolving into advanced materials used for environmental and water treatment purposes to remove and purify harmful substances, as well as for energy storage, lithium recovery, and carbon dioxide capture, due to its strong absorbency and adsorption capabilities.

Through this investment, POSCO Group announced plans to create a carbon material industry cluster in Gwangyang City as a leading company in national material development.

Carbo Co., Ltd. plans to invest 60 billion KRW and hire 104 employees on a 33,179㎡ site in the Sepung Port hinterland complex to manufacture small secondary battery ESS using battery scrap and electric vehicle batteries as raw materials, and to produce materials such as lithium, nickel, and cobalt used in the manufacture of secondary battery cathode materials.

Worldcopter Korea Co., Ltd. will invest 20 billion KRW and hire about 240 employees to establish a cargo transport robot helicopter production plant and research institute on a 16,503㎡ site in the Myeongdang 3 district of the Gwangyang National Industrial Complex.

The unmanned industry using drones is recognized as a core new business in the 4th Industrial Revolution era alongside artificial intelligence (AI).

In his greeting, Jeonnam Governor Kim Young-rok said, "To resolve investment regulations in the Donghoan area of Gwangyang Steelworks, Jeollanam-do, Gwangyang City, and central government ministries have made strenuous efforts and recently achieved results. The decision by POSCO Future M to invest in an activated carbon production plant as the first outcome today is very meaningful," adding, "We will continue to actively remove all regulations that hinder companies from investing in Jeonnam."

He continued, "We will quickly develop customized future advanced industrial complexes so that Jeonnam can lead the global energy transition trend," and requested investment in Jeonnam, which offers many opportunities.

Gwangyang Deputy Mayor Joo Soon-seon emphasized, "Gwangyang City faces the major task of strengthening the competitiveness of existing industries and attracting investment in future growth engine industries," and said, "Despite difficult external conditions, we will spare no support so that companies can fully demonstrate their capabilities on the solid infrastructure that Gwangyang City has built and vigorously open a new future."

Meanwhile, Gwangyang City achieved the largest-ever corporate attraction this year, including large-scale investment agreements with POSCO Future M Co., Ltd., Jeonnam Cloud Data Center Co., Ltd., and POSCO Lithium Solution Co., Ltd., attracting 18 companies with a total investment of about 2.7 trillion KRW and creating 1,544 jobs.

Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters, Reporter Heo Seon-sik hss79@asiae.co.kr

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