BJFEZ Partners with Four Universities to Build Mega-Regional Industry-Academia Talent Pipeline

 

- Nine Busan-Gyeongnam Institutions Sign MOU in Line with Korea’s “Five Growth Poles and Three Special Zones” Policy

- BJFEZ to Launch Shared Campus Offering Joint Coursework, Field Training, and Internships

- New Framework Links Talent Development to Local Employment and Long-Term Settlement

 

Busan-Jinhae Free Economic Zone Authority (BJFEZ), led by Commissioner Park Seongho, signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on September 1 to build a mega-regional industry-academia partnership connecting the Anchor Projects of universities in Busan and Gyeongnam with industrial sites across the Busan-Jinhae Free Economic Zone. The signing ceremony was held at 4:00 p.m. at BJFEZ's main conference hall.

 

Nine institutions took part in the agreement: the anchor program units of four universities — Pusan National University, Changwon National University, Korea Maritime & Ocean University, and Inje University — together with the Busan Anchor Center, the Gyeongnam Anchor Center, BJFEZ itself, the BJFEZ Tenant Companies Council, and the BJFEZ Foreign-Invested Companies Council.

 

The partnership connects the Anchor Projects of Busan and Gyeongnam universities with industrial operations across BJFEZ, bringing universities, companies, and support agencies together in a single mega-regional industry-academia framework. Its goal is twofold: to cultivate the talent local industries need, and to build a pathway for that talent to find jobs and put down roots in the region.

 

BJFEZ plans to leverage its strategic location linking Busan and Gyeongnam, along with the concentration of port and logistics operations around Busan New Port and Jinhae New Port and its growing advanced manufacturing base, to establish a shared campus connecting university education and human resources with the workforce needs of local industry.

 

The shared campus will operate as a field-oriented education and industry-academia collaboration platform, jointly used by Busan and Gyeongnam universities to connect students directly with local companies and industrial sites. In its initial phase, joint education and industry-academia programs will be operated using space within BJFEZ, with additional dedicated space to be secured and developed in phases within the free economic zone as participating universities' and companies' needs and program scale grow.

 

The shared campus will also host joint curricula, joint lectures, and credit exchange programs between Busan and Gyeongnam universities, alongside company site visits, field training and internships, joint industry-academia projects, and training programs for incumbent employees — all in partnership with companies based in BJFEZ.

 

BJFEZ said it will place particular emphasis on giving university students direct exposure to the port, logistics, and manufacturing operations within the free economic zone through the shared campus, helping them recognize these industries as viable career and employment paths.

 

Through this initiative, BJFEZ aims to expand the points of contact between university students and local companies, building a virtuous cycle for regional talent that moves from understanding local industry, to hands-on field experience, to employment, to long-term settlement in the region.

 

"We will combine BJFEZ's strategic location and its industrial base in port, logistics, and advanced manufacturing with the educational and research capabilities of our university partners to build a mega-regional industry-academia hub that cultivates talent for the region," said Commissioner Park Seongho.