Korea is stepping on the gas to make the nation a business center of Northeast Asia by capitalizing on the upcoming effectuation of the Korea-China Free Trade Agreement (FTA).
The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE) and KOTRA hosted the 2015 Foreign Investment Week (2015 FIW) from Oct. 13 to 15.
Roughly 1,000 people, including foreign investors and foreign and Korean media people, attended the event, the 10th rendition of FIW held under the theme “Construction of Infrastructure for a Business Center of Northeast Asia through the Utilization of FTA Platforms.”
The 2015 FIW event consisted of such diverse programs as investment explanation sessions, forums, a meeting of foreign press and tours of industrial sites.
On the first day, FIW progressed with four FDI attraction sessions on four different themes and programs tailored to attract investments into startups. Chairman Didier Lamouche of the global mobile security No. 1 company Oberthur Technologies announced a plan to set up its R&D center in Korea.
Visiting foreign investors and journalists were taken on an observation tour of the Incheon Free Economic Zone and the East Coast Free Economic Zone.
The 2015 FIW also coincided with a job fair for foreign companies. Some 100 foreign companies, including Siemens and Facebook, participated in the event, which attracted an estimated 16,000 job seekers.
MOTIE said 2015 FIW would serve as an opportunity to publicize Korea’s attractiveness as an investment center through the utilization of its FTA network and to shift the FDI paradigm to usher in an era of attracting $20 billion in FDIs.
In his speech at an opening session of the event, MOTIE Deputy Minister for Trade and Investment Lee In-ho said, “ the Korea-China FTA will offer good opportunities for investing into Korea, and it will serve as an opportunity to change the investment method focusing on the domestic market of Korea into the one tailored to make inroads into foreign markets.”
S-OIL CEO Honored with Order of Industrial Service, Gold Tower for Investing More in Korea
S-Oil CEO Nasser Al-Mahasher was awarded the Order of Industrial Service, Gold Tower at the 2015 Foreign Company Day at the COEX InterContinental Hotel in southeastern Seoul on Oct. 15. He has been credited with making a massive investment worth $500 million into petrochemical facilities, establishing an R&D center, and enhancing the competitive edge in the Korean petrochemical industry by participating in the Korean government’s project to build a petroleum hub of Northeast Asia. He is one of 53 people who won government prizes at the event.
The Order of Industrial Service, Bronze Tower went to Chairman Toshihisa Deguchi of Dongwoo Fine-Chem in recognition of introducing an advanced LCD material technology into Korea and creating massive jobs 2,914 employees.
Six people, including President Jun Hae-sang of Toray Advanced Materials Korea, were presented with the Industrial Service Medal. The Ulsan Metropolitan government and five other people received the Presidential Award, while 12 people were awarded with the Prime Minister’s Award.
In his commemorative speech, Vice Minister Lee Kwan-sup of MOTIE stressed foreign concerns’ contribution to enhancing a growth potential by overhauling the Korean industrial structure. “The Korea-China FTA will change the FDI paradigm toward Korea from a focus on the domestic market of Korea to the one tailored to make inroads into foreign countries, and the government will aggressively devote itself to improving incentives and regulations so that foreign investors can make the most of this opportunities.”
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