While local governments across the country are jumping into the race to attract Tesla’s second Gigafactory (production facility), which hinted at the possibility of building a production base in Korea, Gwangju Metropolitan City, which has production bases such as Kia Motors Gwangju Plant and Gwangju Global Motors (GGM), is getting busier. .
On the 4th, the city delegation, including Gwangju Metropolitan City Mayor Kang Ki-jeong and Deputy Culture and Economy Mayor Kim Gwang-jin, who left for Las Vegas, USA, decided to visit innovative companies in Silicon Valley such as Tesla, Google, and Apple after the close of CES 2023 to discover and cooperate with new businesses, including the establishment of a Tesla factory. Attention is focused on whether such results can be achieved.
According to Gwangju City on the 9th, in December last year, the city submitted a ‘Letter of Intent to Host Tesla Gigafactory’ to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy and KOTRA (Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency). It is known that more than 12 local governments across the country, including Gwangju and Jeollanam-do, have announced their intention to host the event.
Prior to this, in November, Tesla CEO Elon Musk mentioned Korea as one of the top investment candidates for the Gigafactory during a video conference with President Yoon Seok-yeol, intensifying the competition among local governments across the country to attract the company. Gwangju City proposed two sites as candidate sites for the Gigafactory, including 11 pyeong in the high-tech district 3, where the national artificial intelligence complex will be built, and 30 million pyeong in the site for the additional construction of the Bitgreen Industrial Complex.
Gwangju City emphasized the strengths of its production base, including two finished car factories, including Kia Motors Gwangju Plant and Gwangju Global Motors, and an automobile cluster under construction. In addition, it was suggested that Mokpo Port, located within an hour by car, can be used as a logistics base, making it easy to export vehicles and procure parts.
In addition, the city is actively promoting the synergy effect with Bitgreen Industry. While the site selection results are expected to be announced in the first half of this year, Mayor Kang Ki-jeong is moving quickly starting the new year by concentrating his administrative power on discovering investment attraction target companies, meeting with officials, and persuading them.
Gwangju City participated for the first time in ‘CES 5’, the world’s largest home appliance and IT exhibition held in Las Vegas, USA from the 8th to the 2023th (local time) and operated the Gwangju co-brand promotion hall. Products from local companies such as DK Co., Ltd., Ventech Frontier Co., Ltd., XNUMXH Goods Co., Ltd., Ideas Co., Ltd., TIP International Co., Ltd., Hyunsung Autotech Co., Ltd., and Idm Co., Ltd. were introduced and received favorable reviews from visitors.
The city delegation plans to visit innovative companies and prestigious universities in Silicon Valley and sign business agreements to jointly host an AI global innovation institute meeting, the 2023 International Investment Attraction Forum, and an international forum in the medical field. In particular, local residents’ expectations are growing as it is known that they will visit Tesla ahead of the announcement of the Asian factory site selection results.
Gwangju Mayor Kang Ki-jeong said, “Gwangju’s innovation begins now,” and added, “We will not spare any continuous support until the day of innovation.” Meanwhile, Tesla Asia’s 2nd Gigafactory is reportedly planning to produce 150 to 200 million units per year. This is similar in size to Hyundai Motor Company’s Ulsan plant, which produces 160 million units per year.
Meanwhile, ‘CES’, the world’s largest IT exhibition, is an exhibition where you can understand the trends of the global home appliance industry at a glance. Hosted by the Consumer Technology Association (CTA), it is held every January in Las Vegas, USA. AVING News, which has covered CES for 1 consecutive years, has reported CES news around the world every year since 17, and has been selected as the ‘BEST OF CES’, which selects the best innovative products and technologies, and the ‘BEST OF’, which selects domestic innovative companies. ‘MADE IN KOREA’ was held. In addition, CES on-site issues were vividly conveyed through ‘AVING LIVE’.