Gwangju City Attracts Investment from Japanese Company NPLACE Co., Ltd.

Gwangju City Hall

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Park Seon-gang] Gwangju Metropolitan City announced on the 14th that NPlace Co., Ltd., an automobile parts manufacturing company located in Tokyo, Japan, has confirmed its move into the Bitgreen Industrial Complex and completed a foreign direct investment report worth approximately 10 million USD on the 11th.

The foreign investment report by NPlace Co., Ltd. is the fulfillment of the investment commitment made after signing an investment agreement with Gwangju City in April last year.

This investment is particularly significant as it was made amid prolonged trade conflicts between Korea and Japan following Japan's export restrictions in July last year and the global economic crisis caused by COVID-19, leading to actual investment by a Japanese company.

NPlace Co., Ltd. supplies navigation systems and black boxes through a large distribution network of automobile parts in Japan and is a key company holding a dominant market share in this sector within Japan. Recently, it has expanded its business into the home appliance sector by launching consumer electronics.

Additionally, NPlace is evaluated as a company with high growth potential, having partnerships with Autobacs Seven Co., Ltd., Japan's largest automobile goods distribution company, and Yamazen Group Co., Ltd., a home appliance conglomerate with a 70-year tradition.

NPlace plans to establish a Korean subsidiary within this year and start construction of a factory on a 2,000-pyeong site within the Bitgreen Industrial Complex, with product manufacturing scheduled to begin in December next year.

Kim Seong-ho, CEO of NPlace Co., Ltd., stated, “I moved to Japan in 1997 and started the automobile parts business in 2004, focusing on continuous technological development, which led to becoming a main product supplier for Japanese automobile parts distributors. Although recent diplomatic tensions with Japan made investment decisions difficult, the designation of Gwangju as an economic free zone, improvements in business activities and living conditions for foreign companies, and the opportunity to participate in an industrial platform integrated with artificial intelligence (AI) industries aligned with our business vision, leading to the investment decision.”

Park Nam-eon, Director of the City’s Job and Economy Office, said, “In a situation where corporate investments are shrinking due to the global economic crisis caused by COVID-19, NPlace’s entry into Gwangju is expected to serve as a catalyst to revitalize the local economy. We will actively support NPlace, a specialized company in navigation systems and black boxes for safe automobile driving, to grow into the top company in the mobility sector by combining with Gwangju’s artificial intelligence (AI) industry.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.