The opening ceremony of the Ulsan Free Economic Zone Authority was held at the Citizen Hall of Ulsan City Hall on the 14th. From left, Yong-Seong Cho, President of Korea Energy Economics Research Institute, President Il-Joon Park, President of East-West Power, Yeon-cheon Oh, President of Ulsan University, Sung-Il Ahn, Head of Free Economic Zone Planning Division of the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, Yunmo Sung, Minister of Industry, Ulsan Mayor Song Chul-ho, Ulsan Free Economic Zone Commissioner Cho Young-shin, President Lee Yong-hun, UNIST President, Yang Soo-young Petroleum Corporation , Sang-Hong Lee, Vice President of Energy Corporation. Provided by Ulsan City
The Ulsan Free Economic Zone Authority (UFEZ) held an opening ceremony on the 14th and started working in earnest.
Ulsan City held the opening ceremony of UFEZ at the City Hall Citizen Hall, attended by 50 people including Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy Sung Yun-mo, Mayor Song Chul-ho, and head of energy-related public institutions.
By 2030, the city of Ulsan has built a full-cycle production system that will lead the popularization of hydrogen from hydrogen production and supply to commercialization, including the supply of 67,000 hydrogen electric vehicles with a total amount of KRW 1.17 trillion in the Ulsan Free Economic Zone. It presented the goal of becoming a central city.
For the concrete realization of the vision, Ulsan City has signed an agreement with the Ministry of Industry, Ulsan City, UNIST (Ulsan University of Science), Ulsan University, Korea National Oil Corporation, East-West Power, Korea Energy Agency, and Energy Economics Research Institute to build an innovative ecosystem of UFEZ. Participating organizations agreed to actively cooperate in upgrading and revitalizing the hydrogen industry and establishing the foundation for the hydrogen industry for the construction of Ulsan, the world’s best hydrogen city in 2030.
Mayor Song emphasized, “Ulsan City has taken a great first step toward becoming a global hydrogen city,” and emphasized, “We will create an energy hub city that will not shake in any crisis by blooming the flowers of the hydrogen industrial revolution.”
Free economic zones are special economic zones supported by the government that promote investment attraction by creating a business environment and living conditions that are favorable for businesses, such as tax cuts and deregulation. UFEZ is an organization under the city of Ulsan, and consists of a total of 41 members, including the chief executive, the head of the headquarters, 3 departments, and 7 teams. The first commissioner, Cho Young-shin, was appointed as a mid-sized enterprise policy officer at the Ministry of Industry.
Commissioner Cho said, “Ulsan is one of the most latecomers among the nine free economic zones nationwide, but it has an absolute advantage as a hydrogen car production and research base, producing 60% of the total domestic hydrogen production.” “I will breathe new vitality and innovation into the Ulsan economy, which is struggling with the economic downturn.”
The space for the creation of the Free Economic Zone is 4.70 ㎢ in three districts, including the Hydrogen Industry Base District (1.29 ㎢), Electrogen Auto Valley (0.69 ㎢), and R&D Business Valley (2.72 ㎢).
In the hydrogen industry base district, an institution that researches and develops and demonstrates technology related to the hydrogen industry resides. The Electrogen Auto Valley is built with a cluster of hydrogen and electric vehicle parts. The R&D Business Valley will attract companies related to fuel cells, which are the core parts of hydrogen vehicles, in connection with the high-tech valley industrial complex where Samsung SDI’s Ulsan plant is located. The Ulsan Free Economic Zone Authority aims to achieve 5.3 trillion won in domestic corporate investment, 200 million dollars in foreign investment, and 76,000 new jobs created by 2030.
It was analyzed that the creation of the Ulsan Free Economic Zone will result in a total output of 12,4385 billion won, added value of 4,903.6 billion won, and an income of 1.641.4 billion won.
Ulsan = Reporter Insik Ha [email protected]