Pohang City Wins Innovation Administration Award, Secures $1.1M in Exports in a "Double Win"

Pohang City has achieved notable economic results by expanding overseas markets for local agricultural specialties, following its success in administrative innovation.

Pohang City announced on October 30 that it had won the Excellence Award in the innovation category at the “2026 Gyeongsangbuk-do Innovation and Proactive Administration Best Practices Competition,” organized by Gyeongsangbuk-do.

Pohang City officials pose for a commemorative photo after winning the Excellence Award in the innovation category at the 2026 Gyeongsangbuk-do Innovation and Proactive Administration Best Practices Competition. Photo provided by Pohang City.

The award recognized hands-on, field-oriented administration during the 추진 of the Haedo-dong District 1 aging residential area improvement project.

The city visited approximately 950 households and built trust by communicating with residents. It secured letters of intent to sell land covering 260 parcels, creating a model for resident-participatory urban regeneration.

These efforts culminated in the project’s final selection in June for the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport’s aging residential area improvement support program, worth 285.4 billion won.

Pohang Mayor Park Yong-seon said, “The trust we built by communicating directly with residents became the driving force behind the project. We will continue to pursue innovation and proactive administration by finding answers in the field and bringing about changes that citizens can feel.”

The city also made significant progress in bringing local agricultural specialties to global markets.

On the same day, Pohang City invited prominent buyers from six countries, including the United States, Canada, Mexico, and Indonesia, to an export consultation event for processed agricultural, livestock, and fishery products at the main conference room of Buk-gu Office. The event resulted in export contracts worth $1.1 million.

The event drew 21 local companies, including startups with limited export experience that had hesitated to enter overseas markets and businesses seeking to develop new products, adding to its significance.

Since August, the city had provided preliminary consultations and tailored consulting to improve the event’s effectiveness. As a result, a total of 60 consultations were held, substantially increasing the rate of successful contract signings.

Kim Jeong-pyo, head of the Agricultural Technology Center, said, “The efforts of local companies that worked to develop new products and ventured into overseas markets for the first time despite difficult economic conditions paid off. We will provide all necessary administrative support to ensure that contracts with buyers met at the event lead to completed exports.”

Pohang City’s achievements are significant because they show how administrative innovation through direct communication with citizens in the field is leading to the revitalization of the local economy and the development of overseas markets. Attention is now turning to whether this momentum can strengthen the city’s competitiveness sustainably.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.