Core self-sufficient facility for Wangseok new town to receive 1.83 trillion won investment across 1.2 million square meters
Namyangju said Wednesday it will accelerate the development of Greater Seoul's largest advanced industrial complex after the Wangseok Urban Advanced Industrial Complex cleared a review by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport's Metropolitan Area Coordination Committee.
The complex, a core self-sufficient facility within the Wangseok new town, will be built across approximately 1.2 million square meters at a total project cost of about 1.83 trillion won ($1.32 billion) — roughly 1.7 times the size of the first Pangyo Techno Valley.
The city plans to develop the complex into a new industrial hub for the northeastern Greater Seoul area, concentrating future advanced industries and research and development functions.
The complex will be linked to major metropolitan transit networks including the GTX-B line, the Gyeongchun Line and subway Line 9, giving it strong access to Seoul and key areas across the metropolitan region. The city expects it to serve as the central self-sufficient engine of the Wangseok new town, blending industrial, residential and cultural functions.
Industries targeted for the complex include biotech and medical, information and communications technology, AI, R&D and knowledge-based services.
The city also plans to reduce the investment burden on companies and sharpen the complex's competitive edge through tax incentives tied to the area's growth-management zone status and the supply of industrial land at near-cost prices.
To that end, Namyangju intends to form a working-level investment attraction council — tentatively named the Namyangju-Korea Land and Housing Corporation Investment Attraction Council — with participation from the Korea Land and Housing Corporation and expert advisers, to flesh out corporate recruitment strategies and measures to activate the complex.
Through the development of the complex, the city envisions building a foundation where residents can learn about future industries locally and move into employment or entrepreneurship. It plans to strengthen the self-sufficient city model in which job creation, corporate attraction and residential settlement reinforce one another in a virtuous cycle.
"The Wangseok Urban Advanced Industrial Complex is a key growth hub that will dramatically strengthen Namyangju's self-sufficiency," Namyangju Mayor Choe Hyeon-deok said. "We will actively attract anchor companies from home and abroad, create quality jobs and firmly establish Namyangju's future industrial foundation."
He added that the city would swiftly pursue follow-up measures — including a proposal to designate the area as a free economic zone and the formation of an investment attraction task force — to position Namyangju as an industrial city that companies seek out.
pjh@heraldcorp.com
