Jeollanam-do Gains Momentum in
Global Recognition

Province to host four international
events between 2011 and 2013

Jeollanam-do will host four international extravaganzas during the period between 2011 and 2013 ― the Formula 1 Korea Grand Prix in Yeongam every year until 2016, the Expo 2012 Yeosu Korea, the 2012 International Agricultural Exhibition in Naju and the International Garden Exhibition Suncheon Bay Korea 2013.
We'll devote ourselves to making the four international events, including the Expo 2012 Yeosu, successful and global festive extravaganzas. We plan to tap such globally recognized maritime tourism resources as our 6,109-km-long rias coastline, dotted with 2,219 islets on top of the world's fifth-largest mud flat as Korea's tour jewels with the goal of becoming a global marine tourism hub,said Jung Soon-nam, vice governor for economic affairs at the Jeollanam-do Provincial Government.
The following are excerpts of an interview between NewsWorld and Jeollanam-do Vice Gov. Jung in which he spoke about his provincial government;s master plan for the comprehensive development of the South Coast and other policies.
Question: Will you tell our readers about the current status of Jeollanam-do's economy and development plans?
Answer: The regional economy of Jeollanam-do has shown signs of improvement in such overall economic indices as industrial production, employment, exports and corporate performance despite the inflationary pressure caused by international crude oil and raw materials price hikes.
Data showed that Jeollanam-do ranked fifth by posting 50.5 trillion won in gross regional domestic product (GRDP) in 2009 and has grown more than the national average since 2000. In particular, Jeollanam-do chalked up $30 billion in 2010 and is projected to register better export figures this year thanks to rosy prospects in the petrochemicals, steel and shipbuilding fields.
Jeollanam-do is an axis of the South Coast Sun Belt of new industries, named after the U.S. Sun Belt, and a marine economic hub of Northeast Asia due to its geological proximity to China and Japan. The province is an outpost of the surging exchanges and cooperation with China.
We strive to develop the province into a logistics, tourism and future industry center of Northeast Asia by making the most of these potentials.
First, Jeollanam-do is focusing on fostering the new and renewable energy industries to take the initiative in low-carbon, green growth industries. Jeollanam-do strives to become a hub of new and renewable energy, as the province has established the nation's largest photovoltaic energy production infrastructure, and is pushing for a 5GW-class offshore wind power project on the Southwest Coast, which is an optimal area for offshore wind power.
Second, Jeollanam-do plans to nurture eco-friendly agriculture, fisheries and livestock industries as future new growth export industries while striving to expand its growth potential by fostering biology, new materials, solar salt, aerospace, shipbuilding, electric vehicles, immersive media and micro applied laser systems as next-generation growth industries.
Third, we are working on a plan to turn the province into a marine tourism center of Northeast Asia. To this end, we are devoted to making four international events, including the Expo 2012 Yeosu and the 2011 Formula 1 Korea Grand Prix, successful and global festive extravaganzas. The province plans to develop such globally recognized maritime tourism resources as a 6,109-km-long rias coastline, dotted with 2,219 islets on top of the world's fifth largest mud flat as Korean tour jewels with the goal of becoming a global marine tourism hub.
Fourth, Jeollanam-do plans to expand its greater area traffic networks for regional and global integration. In addition to the invigoration of Muan International Airport, the province plans to build an undersea high-speed railway connecting the province and Jeju, develop Gwangyang and Mokpo ports as hub ports of marine transportation and construct the Gwangju-Wando and Mokpo-Gwangyang expressways so that all greater area transport networks can be accessible within one hour.
Fifth, the province plans to develop regional growth centers that can drive regional development. The projected Southwest Coast Tourism & Leisure City will be established in the Haenam and Yeongam County areas covering 49 km2 at a budget of 2.3 trillion won by 2025. The projected Joint Gwangju and Jeollanam-do Innovative City will be built in an area around Geumcheon-myeon, Naju City, by 2012 as a city with a population of 50,000 with the goal of relocating 15 public enterprises including Korea Electric Power Corp. from the Seoul metropolitan area.
Jeollanam-do Provincial, Gyeongsangnam-do Provincial and Busan Metropolitan governments jointly plan to establish a master plan on the comprehensive development of the South Coast sphere, calling for investing 24.39 trillion won by 2020 with the goal of making the coast a multipurpose center of marine tourism, leisure and logistics. Jeollanam-do also plans to develop the Gwangyang area into a world top-class logistics and industrial city by investing 15.5 trillion won by 2020 and attracting foreign logistics leaders and nurturing upstream and downstream industries by capitalizing on the existing petrochemical and steel industries.
Q: Will you introduce major industrial complexes and companies in your province?
A: Jeollanam-do has a total of 30 industrial complexes, four state-run ― Gwangyang, Samilbichuk, Yeosu and Daebul industrial complexes ― and 26 local complexes. The 30 industrial complexes, covering 90,443 square meters, have 767 corporate occupants hiring a combined 47,065 employees, which posted an aggregate 84.51 trillion won in production value. The province also has a combined 49 agricultural-industrial complexes at the city and county levels, which accommodate 867 firms with an aggregate 10,482 employees. The companies chalked up 1.943 trillion won in production in 2010, $326 million (358 billion won) of which was earned through exports, establishing themselves as an axis of the regional economy.
The number of factories registered with the provincial government in 2010 totaled 4,397, employing a combined 103,300 people. Out of the total, there are 570 exporting companies ― 13 large-sized ones and 557 SMEs breaking down to 328 industrial product makers, 115 agricultural and livestock companies and 127 fisheries firms.
Q: Will you explain Yeosu's preparations for hosting the 2012 Expo?
A: The Expo 2012 Yeosu will take place in the Yeosu New Port area from May 12 to Aug. 12 under the theme The Living Ocean and Coast. Last December, the projected International Pavilion became the last to break ground among all the pavilions of the expo.
All key infrastructures, including the Theme Pavilion, the Korea Pavilion, the Sub-theme Pavilion, the Local Government Pavilion and the International Institution Pavilion are scheduled for completion by the end of this year.
The top private sector investment projects are being actively implemented. They are the 1,442-unit Expo Town for accommodating expo staff members; a 310-room, 25-story building for accommodating participating VIPs, which will be used as a hotel after the expo is over; and the nation's largest aquarium with a capacity of 6,030 tons of water, are all under construction.
The Jeonju-Suncheon Expressway already opened to traffic last April and other major SOC projects, including the projected Mokpo-Gwangyang Expressway and the project to make the Jeolla railroad line into a double-track and the construction of the Yi Sun-shin Grand Bridge linking Gwangyang and Yeosu will be completed on time before the opening of the exposition.
We're redoubling our efforts to spread the public fever for hosting the exposition and a province-wide drive to offer hospitality to visitors during the exposition and to make the province a place worth revisiting.
The province will continue to host large-size international events to ensure the efficient utilization of the expo facilities after the exposition, while expanded social infrastructure and accommodations will be made available to make the expo venues and its neighborhood areas a platform of the projected South Coast Sun Belt.
Q: Will you elaborate on preparations to make the 2011 Formula 1 Grand Prix a success?
A: The inaugural 2010 Formula 1 Korea Grand Prix attracted 160,000 spectators and we're aiming at attracting 200,000 spectators during the 2011 Korea Grand Prix.
Ticket prices for the 2011 Formula 1 Korea Grand Prix have been lowered by 30 percent over last year, and the portion of daily tickets, which are cheaper, were expanded to 70 percent.
Discount policies tailored to meet spectators'needs have paid off. Early bird ticket buyers are given a 10 percent discount on top of another 10 percent discount for those who pay it with Shinhan credit cards.
Organizers of the 2011 Formula 1 Korea Grand Prix have stepped up marketing activities to attract more spectators. They plan to hold a K-Pop performance involving Hallyu (Korean Wave) idols. Grand Prix ticket holders will be given free tickets to the K-Pop performance.
A Japanese travel agency has decided to arrange a cruise ship excursion to the 2011 Formula 1 Korea Grand Prix.
The 2010 Formula 1 Korea Grand Prix suffered insufficient accommodation and transportation problems. We're made seamless preparations for holding the 2011 Formula 1 Korea Grand Prix.
First of all, traffic problems will be greatly eased. A new detour road has been added to the existing National Road No. 2 leading to the motor race track, accounting for 40 percent of the traffic load. Vehicle traffic will be improved by operating shuttle buses to transfer parking lots and introducing bus-only lanes and changeable lanes.
Accommodation conditions will also be improved this year as 626 rooms in six tourist hotel-level accommodations in the Gwangju and Jeollanam-do areas have been newly added to meet high-class accommodation needs.
Models of above-standard levels, designated as the Formula 1 Korea Grand Prix hotels, will offer upgraded hotel-level services. The Formula 1 Korea Grand Prix hotels are supposed to be equivalent to three to four-star hotels in Europe, according to evaluations by foreign press corps and participating team officials. Spectators are expected to watch car races at a more convenient and pleasant environment as hanok (traditional Korean house) rentals, camping villages and cruise ships are to be made available as accommodation facilities.
Jeollanam-do strives not only to make the 2011 Formula 1 Korea Grand Prix, one of the top four international extravaganzas the province will host, into a hoped-for project to expand its future potential through job creation and investment attraction, but also nurture it into Korea's representative global brand.
Q: What steps is your province taking to attract foreign tourists to the top four international events?
A: Jeollanam-do will host four international extravaganzas during the period between 2011 and 2013. The Formula 1 Korea Grand Prix, one of the world's top sport extravaganzas along with the FIFA World Cup and Olympic Games, will be held in Yeongam every year until 2016.
The Expo 2012 Yeosu Korea will take place in May 2012. In October 2012, Naju will be the venue of the 2012 International Agricultural Exhibition in which 20 advanced countries in agriculture will participate under the theme The World of Life Opening a Green Future. Suncheon will host the International Garden Exhibition Suncheon Bay Korea 2013 under the theme Suncheon Bay, a Garden of the Earth in April 2013.
The four international events are projected to attract approximately 15.2 million visitors, including about 830,000 foreign visitors.
Our provincial government is redoubling efforts to attract tourists from China, Japan and Southeast Asian countries in connection with the hosting of the four international events. We're pitching for popular tourist products of each target market ― products related to islets for Chinese inland tourists, Chinese historical sites in the province and Jeju Island for the Chinese; tourist items related to Dr.
Wang In the Great, well known for his part in the development of Japanese culture and other Japanese historical relics for Japanese tourists; and the train village in Gokseong, and other dynamic tourist products for Southeast Asian tourists.
Jeollanam-do also offers 20 kinds of experience tourist products, in which tourists get a glimpse into traditional Korean culture and lifestyle by sampling or taking time out to participate in them. Among them are cake making at the Nagan Eupseong Folk Village in Suncheon, traditional Korean paper-making in Gurim Village in Yeongam and kimchi-making in Haenam.
Ferries travel between Gwangyang Port and Shimonoseki Port of Japan twice a week as part of efforts to attract Japanese tourists. A high-speed ferry will be operated between Yeosu Port and Hakata Port of Japan during the Formula 1 Korea Grand Prix and the Expo 2012 Yeosu Korea. The Beetle Ferry was test-operated for a charted ferry service by JR Kyushu last June 29.
Q: What strategies does your province employ to attract investments?
A: The province's tourism industry has suffered a setback in attracting investments due to internal and external financial restrictions, coupled with the effects of the global financial crisis and the slumping global economy. Jeollanam-do has a total of 3,399 rooms in 50 accommodation facilities, including 2,185 rooms in 37 hotels, accounting for a mere 3.0 percent of the nation's total accommodation rooms.
The province plans to attract investments to tap such globally recognized maritime tourism resources with environmentally pristine conditions, including higher sunlight compared to Seoul and a 6,109-km-long rias coastline, dotted with 2,219 islets on top of the world's fifth largest mud flat as Korean tour jewels. The province's top priority investment policy is to lure investors for the construction of accommodation facilities, including resorts in coastal and islet areas as well as those tailored to meet the accommodation needs of groups and families.
The Southwest Coast Tourism & leisure Development Plan calls for the development of four districts in the Yeongam and Haenam areas, totaling 49 km2 in size.
The Galaxy Island Development Plan, established to explore the province's tourism resources ― its jewel-shaped 2,219 islets, a 6,109 km-long coastline and the world's fifth largest mud flat ― calls for the development of four clusters, 15 theme attractions and 40 islets. The plan is named after the visualization of the Southwest Coast as a beautiful archipelago that appears to spread in the galaxy. nw

Jung Soon-nam, vice governor for economic affairs at the Jeollanam-do Provincial Government, gestures during an interview with NewsWorld.

Jeollanam-do Vice Gov. Jung Soon-nam holds an interview with NewsWorld. Publisher & President Elizabeth M. Oh.

Photos by NewsWorld