GOYANG — The city of Goyang in Gyeonggi Province has launched a full-scale push to develop future mobility industries, including self-driving vehicles, drones and urban air mobility (UAM), as a core growth engine.
Goyang said on the 30th that it signed a memorandum of understanding on building a future mobility industrial ecosystem with Joongbu University, the Korean Auto-vehicle Safety Association (KASA), the Global e-Mobility Association Network (GEAN) and the Goyang Industry Promotion Agency at the town meeting room in city hall.
About 20 officials from the participating organizations attended the signing ceremony, including Goyang Mayor Min Kyung-sun, Joongbu University President Lee Jung-yeol, KASA President Ha Sung-yong, GEAN Chairman Kim Dae-hwan and Goyang Industry Promotion Agency President Han Dong-kyun, and agreed to establish a framework for cooperation.
The agreement was pursued to combine each organization's policy capabilities, technology, industry base and international networks in order to identify joint projects in future mobility and build a solid industrial ecosystem.
Key areas of cooperation include jointly identifying mid- to long-term policies and government projects for the future mobility industry; technology development, testing and demonstration in electric vehicles, self-driving, drones and UAM; research on safety assessment and certification; attracting domestic and foreign companies and investment infrastructure; co-hosting international exhibitions and forums; workforce training and cooperation among industry, academia, research institutes and government; and support for startups, venture firms and overseas expansion.
Discussions after the ceremony focused on Goyang's specific role, along with building a cooperation framework among the three local governments in the northern Seoul metropolitan area — Goyang, Paju and Gimpo — creating infrastructure tailored to the needs of small and medium-sized enterprises, and drawing up effective plans to attract companies. The city plans to link the agreement with its ongoing hub-type smart city project to build a virtuous cycle running from technology development to demonstration, startups and overseas expansion.
"Innovative mobility technologies such as self-driving and UAM are core industries that will change a city's paradigm," Mayor Min said. "We will continue to work with the central government and Gyeonggi Province to create Korea's leading mobility demonstration city, one that companies come to on their own and where young talent gathers."
