Commissioner Lee Young-geun of the Incheon Free Economic Zone Authority (IFEZA).

IFEZA Commissioner Lee poses with his executives and staff members after he took office as the fourth commissioner of the IFEZ on Aug. 17. (Photos:IFEZA)

Former Senior Executive Vice President Lee Young-geun of Incheon International Airport Corp. (IIAC) took office as the fourth commissioner of the Incheon Free Economic Zone Authority (IFEZA) at the G-Tower on Aug. 17. 

In his inaugural speech at the ceremony, Lee said, “I’ll devote myself to evolving the Incheon Free Economic Zone (IFEZ) into a hub city of creativity with a global competitive edge to realize our vision—Incheon’s dream and the future of Korea.”

The IFEZ has made many achievements as it attracted 94 percent of the combined foreign direct investments, made by all FEZs across the nation, but it is faced with many external and internal challenges and trials, including competition to attract global companies and a heap of regulations, Lee said. 

Lee, a native of Incheon, graduated from Gyeongbok High School and Seoul National University and he began his career after passing the state-administered higher technology examination in 1977. Lee held such prominent positions as director in charge of construction management at the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MOLIT), director general in budget management at the now-defunct Ministry of Planning and Budget, director general in urban environment at the MOLIT and senior executive vice president of IIC. The new IFEZA commissioner, who also served as a professor of the State University of New York, Korea, is noted for having played major roles in establishing the master plan for Incheon International Airport. 

The following is a summary of Lee’s inauguration speech.

The IFEZ will ascend to a hub city of creativity with global competitiveness as a strategic core of the Northeast Asian economy by attracting investments—a city guaranteeing excellent investment and settlement conditions to attract and nurture super value-added, knowledge-based service industries and building an international business district.

To this end, I will do my utmost to make tangible outcomes in the development of the IFEZ to make it a success. 

First, I will max out synergic effects in building cooperative relations with the central government and public entities by capitalizing on my past experiences. Departments and manpower will be in place in a win-win strategy to rally cooperation with the central government and public entities on top of our capacity for the purpose of the successful development of the IFEZ. 

Second, the IFEZA will make an overall review of projects to enhance efficiency. We’ll focus on implementing priority projects after looking at whether each district and each project have systematic and efficient action strategies.

Third, I’ll strive to ramp up efforts to attract investments. We’ll sort out a list of investor candidates and establish investment attraction strategies tailored to meet their needs and conduct aggressive publicity activities.

The IFEZA will conduct publicity activities with the Incheon Metropolitan City government, its sister cities, and cooperative metropolises to enhance Incheon’s standing and brand. 

IFEZA Commissioner Lee called for his staff’s passion and efforts to achieve the goal of the successful development of the IFEZ. 

To this end, Lee urged his executives and staff members to make work their environment an open communication-oriented one.

Secondly, Lee emphasized performance-based corporate culture. 

Finally, he stressed transparency and integrity.