INCHEON — Incheon has set a target of 5% economic growth and the creation of high-quality, future-oriented jobs under its ninth popularly elected administration. The city plans to overhaul its industrial base by concentrating on three emerging sectors — artificial intelligence, bio and clean energy. It will strip out welfare-style jobs that serve mainly to inflate headline numbers and focus its administrative resources on research-and-development positions sought by young adults.
Incheon Mayor Park Chan-dae announced the "Incheon Future Industry Re-powering" strategy at a news conference in the city hall conference room on the 26th. The plan is the third policy roadmap following the "Incheon Rerating" and "Urban Space Remaking" initiatives unveiled at the 100-day mark of his term.
The city has identified 2028 as the inflection point for its industrial leap. It plans to put AI, bio and energy — its core strategic industries — on the agenda as it bids to host the 2028 G20 summit. A global expo on bio, mobility and logistics AX will be held the same year.
The city also detailed sector-by-sector initiatives. It will establish the Incheon Institute of Bio Science and Technology at the Songdo Global Campus to train about 300 master's- and doctoral-level specialists each year. The aim is to expand a bio ecosystem centered on manufacturing into new drug research and development. In mobility, the city will seek up to 900 billion won ($630 million) in state funding to build a connected-car hub centered on Cheongna Robot Land. In logistics, it plans to establish a logistics AX convergence institute by 2029.
Energy policy centers on developing an "AI and Energy Park" on the site of the converted Yeongheung Island coal-fired power plant. The model combines clean energy — solar, offshore wind, hydrogen and fuel cells — with a public AI data center. The city will set up a special purpose company in 2028 to begin the project in earnest. Power generated there will go toward the AI transition at advanced technology companies. In line with the government's regionally differentiated electricity pricing, the city plans to widen the rate reduction to as much as 13 won per kilowatt-hour, above the current range of 6 to 10 won.
Questions at the news conference focused on whether the job creation target is achievable. On how the jobs would be created, the city said it had excluded from the outset short-term public works and jobs for older adults — simple welfare-type positions that create a statistical illusion. The intent is to direct policy resources toward high-paying research jobs that young adults want, in areas such as new drug research and development and next-generation vehicle components.
As the basis for its employment projections, the city cited Okun's law, which addresses the relationship between growth and employment, and employment inducement coefficients by industry. Applying to an economic model the additional 1.1 percentage points it aims to generate above the 3.9% average growth rate of the previous administration, the city calculated at least 6,000 quality jobs.
For every 1 billion won invested, a basic bio manufacturing plant induces employment of only 1.4 to 3.5 people, while specialized new drug R&D reaches as many as 8.5 and energy research jobs climb to six or seven. Shifting the industrial structure toward R&D leaves ample room to create high-quality jobs, the city said. It plans to finalize detailed employment targets by industry after commissioning a comprehensive job policy study.
"The ultimate aim of future industry re-powering is to grow companies and support scale-ups so that young people can land good, high-paying jobs without leaving for other regions," Park said.
The city also presented measures to keep promising startups from relocating elsewhere. Park highlighted recently materialized open innovation infrastructure linking industry, academia and research, including the Lilly Gateway Labs program signed on the 23rd with global pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly and Samsung Biologics, which will support 30 companies, and the Songdo K-Bio Lab Hub, which will nurture 60. The plan is to link a 200 billion won Incheon unicorn fund to provide support through the scale-up stage so that bio ventures that grow in Incheon do not move to other regions.
"These are challenging tasks that will not be easy to achieve at each stage, but we will deliver concrete results," Park said. "We will build Incheon into a self-sufficient city where young people can stay and enjoy good jobs and higher incomes."