**Investment Briefing on ASV Candidate Site Held at Country’s Largest Robot Industry Expo**
**Advancement Agreements on Creating Advanced Robot Ecosystem, UAM Industry Development, Establishment of Science High School in Gyeonggi**
The city of Ansan, led by Mayor Lee Min-geun, made its presence at the ‘2024 RoboWorld’. According to Ansan city on the 24th, ‘2024 RoboWorld’, hosted by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy and organized by the Korea Robot Industry Association, Korea Institute for Robot Industry Advancement ICROS, is the largest-scale robot industry business expo in the country, with participation from over 300 robot companies from 15 countries and is being held for four days from the 23rd to the 26th at the Kintex Exhibition Center 1 in Goyang. Ansan city is the only local government to participate this year, following last year.
The city emphasized that through investment briefings, an industry-academic-research meeting for the robot industry, a survey of robotics companies, gathering of investment intentions, and booth operations, it is actively promoting the vision of ‘Robot City Ansan’ and the future investment value of the planned Gyeonggi Free Economic Zone ‘robot-centered’ Ansan Science Valley (ASV).
An investment briefing for Ansan Science Valley was conducted on the 23rd. The event was attended by Mayor Lee Min-geun, Han Yang University ERICA President Lee Ki-jung, Korea Institute for Robot Industry Advancement Director Son Woong-hee, Korea Robot Industry Association President Kim Jin-oh, Gyeonggi Technopark Director Yoo Dong-joon, DS Networks Chairman Jung Jae-hwan, BNK Investment & Securities CEO Shin Myung-ho, Korea UAM Association President Kim Byung-yoon, Ansan Education Support Office Education Bureau Director Lee Mi-kyung, and Seongpo High School Principal Kim Hak-beom. The event included the presentation of plans for the ASV economic free zone development by Ansan city, robot workforce development by Hanyang University, and the establishment and operation of the RAITIC (Robotics and AI Integrated Campus) by DS.
The subsequent industry-academic-research meeting focused on the theme “Challenges and Tasks for Realizing Robot City Ansan,” discussing methods to strengthen the cooperation network among robotics-related companies, academia, and research institutions and reorienting the manufacturing-centered industrial structure of Ansan towards advanced industries like robotics.
Prior to the briefing, the city also initiated three separate agreements for the formation of an advanced robot ecosystem, development of the UAM industry in the ASV region, and the establishment and operation of a robot-specialized science high school in Gyeonggi, alongside signing investment agreements with DS Networks and BNK Investment & Securities.
The city claimed that through these agreements, it has significantly advanced the potential for the designation and successful development of Ansan as a free economic zone, a core agenda for the city, by reinforcing networks centered on the key strategic industries of ‘advanced robotics and manufacturing’ and achieving an investment demand goal of 234.4% relative to available area.
Additionally, by leveraging the human and material infrastructure connections among anchor universities and national research institutions within Ansan Science Valley (ASV), a representative industry-academia-research cluster in the metropolitan area, the city aims to develop the new science high school into a cradle of world-class talent.
Mayor Lee expressed delight at the “significant achievements in establishing a robot industry ecosystem centered on companies promised at last year’s robotics company meeting, including the establishment of the RAITIC, the nation’s largest robot company integration campus, and a robotics occupational education center,” and had the ambition to “create new growth opportunities for domestic robot companies through the designation of an advanced robotics-focused free economic zone next year.”
**’Economic Free Zone Final Designation, Must Achieve’**
Since 2022, the city has been pursuing the designation of an economic free zone for the Ansan Science Valley zone, which includes institutions like Hanyang University ERICA, Korea Institute of Industrial Technology, Korea Testing Laboratory, Gyeonggi Technopark, and Korea Electric Research Institute. The development plan will be completed this month and an additional designation will be applied to the Ministry of Trade, Industry, and Energy in collaboration with the Gyeonggi Economic Agency.
Ansan city plans to establish a global advanced robotics R&D district through the designation of a free economic zone, linking the advanced robotics-centric industry-academia-research cluster and the digital transformation (smart factory conversion) of Korea’s largest national industrial complex, ‘Banwol and Siheung National Industrial Complex.’
Notably, the Ansan Science Valley (ASV) zone, composed only of city and Hanyang University ERICA land, is expected to provide fast development and affordable land supply, offering new opportunities for both foreign and domestic companies after being designated as a free economic zone.
Following the recent September announcement of securing the ‘Robot Vocational Education Center,’ the largest of its kind in the Seoul metropolitan area and the entire nation, the city plans to focus on addressing the robot industry’s greatest challenge: securing specialized personnel, by promoting the establishment of a science high school specializing in robotics.
Mayor Lee Min-geun reiterated, “Through the additional designation of the ASV economic free zone in Ansan Sado-dong, we will transform the manufacturing-focused Ansan economy to discover sustainable innovative growth engines such as IT, robotics, smart manufacturing, and renewable energy, creating a city specialized in advanced robotics and manufacturing.” He also emphasized his commitment to ensuring that “the administration work proceeds without a hitch to ultimately secure designation as a Gyeonggi economic free zone.”