Pohang City Accelerates Global Strategy with Bid for '2028 World Manufacturing Forum' and Expansion of Public App 'Tavoso'

World-Renowned Scholars Visit Pohang, Boosting Bid for 2028 World Manufacturing Forum
‘Tavoso’ Taxi App Expands to Kakao-Affiliated Taxis, Aiming for 90% Dispatch Success Rate

Pohang City is working to achieve two major goals: attracting international conferences for future manufacturing innovation and strengthening public platforms to improve transportation convenience for its citizens.

Image used with Taboso. Provided by Pohang City

On May 14, Pohang City hosted a meeting to promote its bid for the '2028 World Manufacturing Forum (WMF),' inviting Marco Taisch, Chair of the Scientific Committee at the World Manufacturing Foundation (WMF), and Andrew Kusiak, Professor at the University of Iowa in the United States, both authorities in the field of global manufacturing innovation.

WMF is a non-profit foundation that leads global manufacturing discourse in cooperation with organizations such as the World Economic Forum (WEF) and the OECD.

During the meeting, the WMF delegation gave positive assessments of Pohang’s steel industry competitiveness, led by POSCO, and its outstanding R&D infrastructure, including POSTECH and RIST.

The city plans to use the Pohang International Exhibition & Convention Center (POEX), scheduled to open in 2027, as a base to attract the forum and showcase Pohang’s manufacturing innovation capabilities to the world.

Jang Sangkil, Acting Mayor of Pohang, stated, “We will do our utmost to attract the forum, leveraging Pohang’s industrial competitiveness and its capacity to host international events.”

In addition to its global strategy, the city is also accelerating transportation policies that have a direct impact on citizens’ daily lives.

Pohang City announced that, starting from May 18, it will expand the coverage of the public taxi-hailing app 'Tavoso' to include all 1,369 Kakao-affiliated taxis in the region.

This measure takes advantage of the revised 'Passenger Transport Service Act,' which prohibits the imposition of affiliation fees when using other platforms.

As a result, taxi drivers will be relieved of affiliation fee burdens, and citizens will be able to hail more vehicles, raising the previous 60% dispatch success rate to a projected 90%.

To ensure service stability, the city will provide training for taxi drivers and plans to enhance service competitiveness by offering various incentives, such as integrating with the Pohang Love Gift Certificate and providing coupons for new users.

A Pohang City official stated, “We will simultaneously enhance both the substance and reach of the city by becoming a global MICE hub and providing citizen-centered smart transportation services.”

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