Marking his 100th day in office, Incheon Mayor Park Chan-dae unveiled his "Incheon Re-rating" initiative aimed at elevating the city's currently undervalued potential.

During a keynote speech at the City Hall conference room on the 7th for the "100th Day in Office Press Conference," Mayor Park outlined three core directions for the 9th municipal term: Securing Incheon's True Value, Growing Together with South Korea, and Ensuring Citizens Thrive.

"Incheon is a premier 'undervalued blue-chip' city boasting an airport, a seaport, a bio-cluster, and 305 million citizens," Mayor Park stated. "We will reclaim the value of Incheon that has been suppressed by metropolitan regulations and inter-Korean tensions, and leap forward as a leading city driving balanced national development."

To elevate the city's value, Mayor Park selected securing future industries as his primary task.

His strategy focuses on fostering "ABC+E" future industries—covering Artificial Intelligence (AI), Biotechnology, Content, and Energy—based on existing infrastructure such as airports, seaports, and industrial complexes to secure new growth engines.

"We are currently working hard to attract a global AI hub to Songdo, and we have launched the 'Incheon Logistics AX Alliance' to incorporate AI into airport and seaport logistics," Mayor Park emphasized. "Songdo, already a vital production base for the global bio-industry, must expand beyond manufacturing to encompass research and entrepreneurship."

Additionally, Mayor Park officially announced major projects, including the bid to host the 2028 G20 Summit and the construction of the Korean Peninsula East-West Peace Logistics Expressway.

The city proposed a balanced-development hosting model for the G20 Summit, sharing events with local governments in the West Coast region. By co-hosting the roughly 100 ministerial and working-level meetings held throughout the year with neighboring local governments, Incheon aims to spread the impact of the international event across the region.

A blueprint to transform border regions into logistics and tourism axes was also unveiled.

As a core project, the city is pushing to construct the "Korean Peninsula East-West Peace Logistics Expressway," connecting Incheon International Airport through Sindo and Ganghwa all the way to Goseong in Gangwon Province.

The city plans to link this project with Gyeonggi and Gangwon provinces to reflect it in national plans, thereby realizing the designation of the Ganghwa Southern Free Economic Zone and Northern Peace Economic Special Zone.

"Re-rating is not about waiting for someone else to raise our value; it is about Incheon proving its worth on its own," Mayor Park said. "Since the value of a city is determined by its citizens, the true value of Incheon will only be properly established when our citizens say, 'It is wonderful to live in Incheon.'"

[Copyright (c) Global Economic Times. All Rights Reserved.]