Deputy Minister Lee In-ho of the Trade and Investment Office of the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, speaks at the Korea Free Economic Zones Business Day 2015 held on Nov. 24 at the Plaza Hotel in downtown Seoul.

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE) jointly with seven free economic zone authorities held the 2015 Free Economic Zone Business Table on Nov. 24 with the participation of some 200 business leaders, investment experts, and officials of the free economic zones, among others.

The dignitaries at the event included David-Pierre Jalicon, chairman of the French-Korean Chamber of Commerce and Industry; Chairman Atsuyuki Miki of the Seoul Japan Club in Korea; Commercial Minister Wang Chongron of the Chinese Embassy in Seoul; First Counselor Paolo Caridi of the EU Representative Office in Seoul; along with some 30 representatives of foreign chambers of commerce and foreign embassies in Korea showing a great interest in the development of the free trade zones in Korea and investments in the zones.

Deputy Minister Lee In-ho of the Trade and Investment Office of the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, said in his welcoming speech, that “we expect Korea to develop as the East Asian hub of the global value chain taking advantage of the FTAs with its major trading nations, now that its international trading has expanded to rank the 6th largest in the world.” 

He pleaded for foreign investment in free economic zones by global business firms to build  high value-added production bases.

In his keynote speech, Chairman Song Hi-yeon of the Asia Development Institute, said the FEZs should be open wide to foreign investments through regulatory reform to become an ecological model for fair competition.

At the special forum, investment experts discussed strategies to lure more investments to the zones citing successful samples of investments made in the zones thus far.

President Han Ki-won of Invest Korea said Korea is a hub for global FTAs, with the fifth largest stake in the Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) and the establishment as an offshore hub for the Yuan currency as a business platform in Northeast Asia, drawing attention from the global investors. He urged FEZs to take advantage of the situation.

Lawyer Lee Jae-hoon of the law firm Kwangjang introduced various laws and legal processes needed to attract industrial service companies like resorts. On the other hand, President Martin Rotermund of Retal Korea outlined some good and bad points of FEZs, based on his firm’s experience operating there, especially the firm’s experience to overcome tough matters in the process of management.

Following the lunch, each head of the seven FEZs explained advantages of his FEZ for certain kinds of businesses, saying that he will provide more detailed information and data to those foreign firms that want to set up their companies operations and promising to provide continued consultations.

They said the Incheon FEZ would be good for financial firms, the Busan FEZ for logistics firms; Kwangyang Bay for petrochemical and tourism firms; Daegu and North Gyeongsang for medical equipment; the Hwanghae FEZ for parts makers; Donghae Ankwon for non-metal and tourism; and North Chungcheong for the bio industry. 

Those in attendance at the forum included the MOTIE; foreign embassies in Korea; foreign business organizations; law firms; accounting firms; journalists; officials in the FEZ authority; including top managers and those in charge of dealing with foreign investments. Some 150 people attended. President Lee Young-ken of the Incheon Free Economic Zone Authority delivered a closing speech of the forum.

A group of dignitaries at the Korea Free Economic Zones Business Day 2015 pose for a photo session during the meeting held at Plaza Hotel in Seoul on Nov. 24.(Photos:MOTIE)