– National Assembly Regional Balanced Development Forum Gwangju Regional Meeting Held… Second after Gyeongbuk
- Joint Declaration Announcement of National Funds for Artificial Intelligence Transformation Demonstration Valley and AI Industry Promotion Act
- Mayor Kang Ki-jeong: “We will do our best as the National Assembly and government have supported Gwangju’s AI industry.”
The ruling and opposition party lawmakers have come together to develop the artificial intelligence (AI) industry in Gwangju. With the promise of securing national funds for the artificial intelligence (AI) conversion (AX) demonstration valley, the second phase of Gwangju’s artificial intelligence (AI) project, and enacting related laws, the artificial intelligence (AI) industry in Gwangju is expected to gain speed.
Gwangju Metropolitan City (Mayor Kang Ki-jung) announced that the 'National Assembly Regional Balanced Development Forum Gwangju Regional Meeting' was held in the city hall conference room on the 6th.
The National Assembly Regional Balanced Development Forum (hereinafter referred to as the Forum) is a forum for implementing legislation and policies to eliminate regional gaps and achieve regional balanced development in Korea. A total of 45 people are participating, including 4 members of the National Assembly from the ruling and opposition parties, the chairmen of the four major local councils, and the ministers of the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, and Transport, Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, and Ministry of SMEs and Startups.
This meeting was the second regional meeting held following the launch of the 6nd forum in June and the Gyeongbuk regional meeting in July. It was held to establish a legislative and budgetary strategy tailored to Gwangju as the regular National Assembly session began.
The meeting was held with a presentation and discussion on the topic, “Artificial Intelligence (AI) for All, Our Tasks for Leaping Forward to Becoming One of the Top 3 AI Powerhouses - Focusing on Gwangju, the Representative AI City of the Republic of Korea.”
The meeting was attended by 14 ruling and opposition party lawmakers, including Rep. Park Sung-min (People Power Party, Ulsan Jung-gu), who is the forum’s standing co-representative, co-representatives Lee Won-taek (Democratic Party of Korea, Gunsan-si, Gimje-si, Buan-gun-eul, Jeollabuk-do), Jeon Jin-sook (Democratic Party of Korea, Gwangju Buk-gu-eul), Rep. Jo In-cheol (Democratic Party of Korea, Gwangju Seo-gu-gap), Rep. Ahn Do-geol (Democratic Party of Korea, Gwangju Dong-gu, Nam-gu-eul), and Rep. Min Hyeong-bae (Democratic Party of Korea, Gwangju Gwangsan-gu-eul), Gwangju Mayor Kang Ki-jung, Gwangju City Council Speaker Shin Soo-jung, and Ministry of Science and ICT Information and Communication Policy Director Song Sang-hoon, as well as around 20 others.
Oh Sang-jin, head of the Artificial Intelligence Industry Convergence Business Division, said, “Thanks to Gwangju’s strategic choice of artificial intelligence (AI) and its leading investment, it has acquired key infrastructure such as the National AI Data Center for AI technology development and verification.”
Director Oh cited the following as achievements of the first phase of the artificial intelligence (AI) project, which invested a budget of 4000 billion won: ▲provision of high-performance AI computing resources to support AI research and development; ▲establishment of infrastructure and initial ecosystem to support top-notch AI companies outside the metropolitan area; ▲establishment of verification equipment (1 types) based on corporate demand and 77 cases of verification equipment verification support; and ▲verification of AI solutions to solve urban problems. In particular, he emphasized that Gwangju is the optimal region for the second phase of the artificial intelligence (AI) project, the 'Artificial Intelligence Conversion (AX) Verification Valley Creation Project' based on AI verification.
The participants continued in-depth discussions on topics such as 'AI development trends and current status of Gwangju AI complex project' and 'Institutional support needs such as research and development (R&D) for fostering AI industry and Gwangju AI complex'.
In particular, they announced the 'National Assembly Regional Balanced Development Forum Gwangju Joint Declaration' after the forum. The joint declaration includes ▲ swift promotion of procedures for the AI Conversion (AX) demonstration valley project and support for securing next year's national budget ▲ enactment of an AI industry promotion law to help South Korea leap forward as one of the top three AI powerhouses ▲ legislation for exemption from preliminary feasibility studies for research and development (R&D) projects in cutting-edge fields such as AI ▲ legislation for special regulatory exceptions for opportunity development special zones in cutting-edge fields such as AI.
In particular, at the livelihood debate held in Gwangju on the 5th, Mayor Kang Ki-jung requested an exemption from the preliminary feasibility study for the Artificial Intelligence Conversion (AX) Demonstration Valley Project (AI Phase 2). Following this, President Yoon Seok-yeol promised to “actively review it,” and on that day, ruling and opposition party lawmakers resolved to actively support securing the related national budget, which has given further momentum to the promotion of the artificial intelligence project.
Mayor Kang Ki-jung of Gwangju said in his welcoming speech, “It is a great help that the ruling and opposition party lawmakers have come together to actively support the budget for Gwangju’s artificial intelligence (AI) demonstration valley project and to participate in legislation.” He added, “As the National Assembly and the government have supported Gwangju’s AI project, we will make Gwangju the AI Silicon Valley of the Republic of Korea.”
Park Sung-min, a member of the National Assembly and co-chair of the National Assembly Regional Balanced Development Forum, said, “It is a very moving experience to hold the forum regional meeting in Gwangju, the sacred place and heart of democratization. In particular, I think that the fact that we are launching the second forum and holding regional meetings in Gwangju following Gyeongbuk is symbolic of our forum.” He added, “At this meeting, we will discuss various legislative and policy tasks for the development of Gwangju, and take good care of the tasks supported by the National Assembly for its development as an artificial intelligence (AI) city.”
Rep. Jeon Jin-sook, co-chair of the forum, said, “True balanced regional development means that all regions of Korea grow while taking advantage of their own characteristics,” and added, “The National Assembly will also spare no support to ensure that Gwangju becomes a city that excels more than any other region in the field of artificial intelligence (AI). In particular, we will do our best to support the budget for the Artificial Intelligence Transformation (AX) Demonstration Valley project.”
Meanwhile, after the meeting, forum participants attended the '15th Gwangju Biennale Opening Ceremony' held in Gwangju and cheered for the success of the Gwangju Biennale. <End>