Manufacturing in Korea’s Southeast Region seeks a path to survival through business restructuring and physical AI

[Financial News] A forum was held to encourage businesses in the Southeast Region, including those in Busan, to proactively restructure their operations and to promote innovation and upgrading of the region’s industrial structure.
The Southeast Region Business Restructuring Field Support Center of the Busan Chamber of Commerce and Industry said on the 4th that it had jointly hosted the Policy Conference on the Major Transformation of the Southeast Region’s Industrial Structure with the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy’s Comprehensive Support Center for Business Restructuring at Lotte Hotel Busan on the 3rd.
About 190 people, including business leaders and employees from the Southeast Region, attended the event to discuss corporate response strategies amid changes in the global economic environment and ways to innovate future manufacturing.
In the first presentation, Moon Jeong-hui, a senior expert at KB Kookmin Bank, outlined the global economic outlook for 2027 and corporate response strategies in light of changes in U.S. interest rate and tariff policies. He said, “Based on the geopolitical situation amid the prolonged war in the Middle East and scenarios for oil price fluctuations, the global economy will see a gradual recovery next year.” He urged regional businesses to “respond proactively to changes in the Fed’s interest rate policy as energy prices stabilize and upward pressure on wages eases, as well as to changes in the tariff and trade environment after the U.S. midterm elections.”
Next, Ko Tae-bong, head of research at iM Securities, analyzed changes in future manufacturing and competition in the global robotics and mobility industries, focusing on physical artificial intelligence (AI) and dark factories. He also stressed the importance of securing real-world data to successfully achieve industrial AI transformation (AX).
A roundtable discussion was held on “Strategies for Economic Development Through a Major Transformation of the Southeast Region’s Industrial Structure,” focusing on ways to strengthen the competitiveness of regional industries and secure future growth engines.
At a consultation booth set up at the venue by the Business Restructuring Field Support Center, staff provided information on support programs under the Corporate Revitalization Act and tailored consulting for individual companies.
Busan Chamber of Commerce and Industry Chairman Yang Jaesaeng said, “It’s time for local businesses, too, to consider restructuring their operations by connecting existing technologies with new technologies and demand,” adding, “We will continue to provide effective support to help businesses successfully transform themselves.”
[email protected] Kwon Byeong-seok Reporter