North Gyeongsang Province has moved a step beyond the traditional approach of attracting existing corporations and set out to build a "Gyeongbuk-style investment platform" that consolidates industries, corporations, investors, and global networks into one.
On the 31st, Gyeongbuk held the "2026 future-strategy industry innovation investment forum" at the Ambassador Seoul Pullman hotel in Seoul, with about 100 attendees, including domestic and overseas corporations and investment institutions, industry experts, and local government officials.
This forum is the first event of the "post-APEC Gyeongsangbuk-do investment forum," designed to carry the outcomes of last year's Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Gyeongju, Gyeongbuk, into regional investment attraction. Gyeongbuk organized the forum not only to promote the province's industrial competitiveness but also to consolidate its industrial base, corporations, investors, and global networks to build an investment ecosystem in which corporations can grow.
The first forum focuses on secondary batteries and future vehicles, Gyeongbuk's core strategic industries. Gyeongbuk went beyond an investment briefing to create a single program that covers the entire chain of investment decision-making, from discussions on industry outlook and investment strategies, sharing of real investment cases by investing corporations, and briefings by promising corporations, to one-on-one consultations with investors and visits to industrial sites.
On the day, the provincial government also signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the World Class Corporations Association and Tiantai Law Firm of China. With the World Class Corporations Association, it will cooperate on members' investments in and business expansion in Gyeongbuk, support for corporate growth, and exchanges of industry and investment information and corporate networks.
With Tiantai Law Firm, it will establish a cooperative framework to support mutual investments by Korean and Chinese corporations and their global expansion, identify investments in Gyeongbuk by Chinese corporations, and provide international legal services. Tiantai Law Firm has 41 offices across China and more than 2,600 attorneys.
The event also features a session on "the reorganization of the secondary battery and future vehicle supply chain and Gyeongbuk's investment opportunities," discussing changes in the global industrial environment and new investment strategies. Graduate School of Business Dean Jeong Yeon-seung of Dankook University will moderate, with panelists including Park Ju-yeong, principal investment officer at POSCO Technology Investment, Jo Gyeong-hun, CEO of PROTEC Ventures, Choi Ik-hwan, Korea country head of Shanghai Metals Market (SMM), and Lee U-yeong, professor of materials science and engineering at Yonsei University, experts spanning industry, finance, and materials.
There will also be a session for corporations that have invested in Gyeongbuk to share their experiences. POSCO FUTURE M will introduce the secondary battery value chain built around Pohang and its large-scale investment cases, and Ilji Tech will present its investment and reinvestment experiences in establishing an auto parts production base in Gyeongju, sharing why corporations chose Gyeongbuk and how they settled in the region.
Gyeongbuk Province, Pohang City, and Gyeongju City will introduce the region's investment environment, including industrial complexes and available sites, infrastructure such as power and water, corporate support systems, and investment incentives. In addition, through investment briefings by promising Gyeongbuk corporations such as AN Poly, Ampere Materials, 2DM, Baegun High Tech, and SPCI, they will explore possibilities for collaboration between regional future-industry corporations and investment institutions in areas including battery materials, eco-friendly materials, carbon and graphene, and auto parts.
Yang Geum-hee, Gyeongsangbuk-do vice governor for economic affairs, said, "Now, the competitiveness of corporations depends not merely on 'how much to invest,' but on 'where to invest and with whom to grow together,'" adding, "Gyeongbuk will be a reliable partner from corporations' investment decisions to plant construction, securing talent, and advancing into the global market, based on a solid manufacturing foundation and a future-industry ecosystem."
She continued, "Gyeongbuk will not stop at providing good sites and incentives, but will stay with corporations from the moment they decide to invest—building plants, securing talent, producing products, and growing into the global market," and said, "Together with cities and counties, 'Gyeongbuk that takes responsibility even after the investment' will be a reliable partner for corporations so that the meetings and consultations that begin today lead to actual investments and business cooperation."
Meanwhile, starting with this first forum, Gyeongsangbuk-do will hold follow-up investment forums from Oct. 7 to 8 on machinery parts and defense, and bio and food, and from Oct. 29 to 30 on semiconductors and drones and future vehicles. In particular, on Oct. 29 in Seoul, the province plans to broaden the impact of its investment-attraction outcomes by linking an investment forum performance event that shares annual achievements with the "Gyeongbuk-style salmon project," which supports the return of out-of-province corporations, and "corporate night."