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Future of Collaboration Envisioned by Five Provinces of the Yeongnam Region in Busan: 13th Yeongnam Economic Relations Forum Held

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Busan Metropolitan City (Mayor Park Heong-joon) announced that it will hold the 13th Yeongnam Economic Relations Forum today (28th) at 11:00 a.m. at the Homers Hotel in Suyeong-gu.

This forum is co-hosted by the five provincial governments of the Yeongnam Region—Busan, Ulsan, Gyeongsangnam-do, Daegu, and Gyeongsangbuk-do—and jointly organized by the City and the Busan Institute for Regional Studies.

Approximately 100 participants will attend, including Kim Bong-cheol, Director General of the Digital Economy Office of the City, economic department heads from the five regional governments, researchers from provincial research institutes, representatives from economic promotion agencies, and officials from technoparks.

The Yeongnam Economic Relations Forum is a cooperative platform established to enable the five provincial governments of the Yeongnam Region to jointly conduct research projects, discuss strategies for co-prosperity, and build an organic system of collaboration. Following the agreement in 2011 among the governors and mayors of Busan, Ulsan, and Gyeongsangnam-do to expand the economic relations meeting to five regions, the forum has been held on a rotating basis among the five governments since its first session in Gyeongsangnam-do in 2012.

Marking its 13th year, this forum will proceed with the following agenda aimed at the sustainable development of the Yeongnam Region: signing of the Joint Development Agreement for the Yeongnam Economic Bloc; selection and announcement of the 2026 joint research project; presentation of the 2025 joint research outcomes; and an invited lecture.

For the 2026 joint research project, the participating governments have selected the “Strategies for Building an Innovative Technology Startup Ecosystem in the Yeongnam Region,” which aims to evaluate the region's startup ecosystem and design a model for wide-area cooperation.

Following this, Kim Do-gwan, Senior Research Fellow at the Busan Institute for Regional Studies, will present the findings of the 2025 joint research project, titled “Strengthening the Competitiveness of Manufacturing in the Yeongnam Region in the Era of Digital Transformation.”

The presentation will diagnose the region’s potential growth rate and total factor productivity—which have slowed since the 2010s—and propose strategies and key projects to simultaneously promote manufacturing innovation and quality job creation through data- and AI-based smart factories, eco-friendly process transitions, and digital talent development.

An invited lecture will also be delivered by Heo Mun-gu, Senior Research Fellow at the Korea Institute for Industrial Economics & Trade, under the theme “Balance or Decline? Regional Economies at a Crossroads,” addressing core policy tasks for balanced development.

Kim Bong-cheol, Director General of the Digital Economy Office of Busan Metropolitan City, stated, “The Yeongnam Region is a vital pillar of Korea’s industrial economy, and only through joint responses to the waves of change we face can we create new opportunities.” He added, “Economic cooperation across the Yeongnam Region is essential not only at the local level but also for building a regional economic bloc capable of moving beyond the current Seoul-centric monocentric structure.”