The city of Busan has secured a large-scale state-funded project to boost the competitiveness of the air conditioning machinery and parts industry using artificial intelligence (AI). The core aim is to strengthen the testing and certification capabilities of local manufacturing and to lay the foundation for entering overseas markets, in response to tighter global environmental regulations and the trend toward digital transformation.
Busan announced Wednesday that its "Global Market-Responsive AI-Based HVAC Component Performance Evaluation Infrastructure Upgrade Project" was selected in the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy's (MOTIE) "2026 Regional Strategic Industry Infrastructure Upgrade Project" competition.
The project aims to build an AI-based testing and evaluation system that can verify the performance of HVAC components and clean-air-related products more quickly and precisely. It reflects an industrial environment in which the importance of product performance verification and data-based quality management is rising amid carbon neutrality, stricter eco-friendly regulations, and the spread of smart manufacturing.
The project will be pursued over three years from this year through 2028, with a total scale of 10.8 billion won. It will draw 6.5 billion won in state funds, 2.8 billion won in city funds, and 1.5 billion won in private investment. Busan Techno Park will oversee the project, with the Busan Machinery Industry Cooperative and the Korea Testing & Research Institute participating as partner organizations.
Busan has a nationwide production base for HVAC machinery and parts, but in the global market, the ability to respond to environmental regulations and to build data-based quality management systems has recently emerged as a new source of competitiveness. Local companies have excellent manufacturing technology but have faced difficulties in testing, certification, and meeting international standards.
Accordingly, the city plans to use the infrastructure built through its existing clean air industry and industrial complex environmental improvement projects to enhance local companies' technology commercialization and export competitiveness.
As key initiatives, the city will pursue the establishment of an AI-based global HVAC component performance evaluation system, an AI-applied autonomous measurement system using simple measuring devices, and an AI-based on-site pollutant analysis and management system.
The city also plans to operate a technology innovation support council so that companies can apply the technology in actual industrial settings, while concurrently providing equipment use support, technology services, and export-linked commercialization support.
The city expects the project to greatly help reduce the testing and certification costs and timeframes that have long been chronic pain points for the region's manufacturing industry. In particular, once an AI-based data analysis system is established, the efficiency of the entire process—from product development to certification and commercialization—is expected to improve significantly.
Park Dong-seok, head of the city's Advanced Industry Bureau, said, "We will support local small and medium-sized enterprises in resolving the difficulties they face in the testing, certification, and commercialization stages after technology development, and in strengthening their capabilities to enter global markets." He added, "We expect this to serve as a catalyst for the digital transformation of the HVAC industry and the improvement of industrial competitiveness."
