KOTRA Holds Online Forum on 'Post-Corona Investment Attraction Strategy'

[Asia Economy Reporter Su-yeon Woo] KOTRA announced on the 9th that it held the '2020 Invest Korea Forum' online on the 8th, in collaboration with the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, under the theme of 'Foreign Investment Attraction Strategies After the Novel Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19).' This forum was organized to review the foreign investment environment and explore strategies and opportunities in preparation for the post-COVID era.

Panelists included Professor Seongbong Lee from Seoul Women's University, Senior Research Fellow Hyunggon Jung from the Korea Institute for International Economic Policy, Professor Museop Jung from Dong-A University, Senior Research Fellow Mantae Jung from the Korea Institute for Industrial Economics and Trade, Advisor Jipyeong Lee from LG Economic Research Institute, and Vice President Byunggil Park of DaeguTec, a foreign-invested company.

They pointed out that factors such as the spread of protectionism, the intensification of the US-China trade dispute, and rising production costs in China, combined with COVID-19, have led global companies to move production bases from China to third countries or invest in countries other than China. They proposed three strategies for our investment attraction.

First, as global companies seek stable investment destinations, investment demand in our key industries such as semiconductors, displays, and automobiles, particularly in the materials, parts, and equipment sectors, may increase. To this end, it was emphasized that incentives such as cash support systems and free economic zones should be actively utilized to attract advanced companies in the materials, parts, and equipment sectors domestically.

KOTRA and the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy held an online forum on the 8th on strategies for attracting foreign investment in the post-COVID-19 era. Photo by KOTRA

Additionally, based on experience in proactively responding to COVID-19, they argued that efforts should be made to attract investment in fields such as medical care, pharmaceuticals, and bio industries. The entertainment industry, including online games and educational content, which have seen rapidly increasing demand due to the expansion of the home economy, could also become promising sectors for investment attraction.

Lastly, the necessity of establishing a 'Global Research and Development (R&D) Cluster' and introducing a 'Patent Box System' was raised. The global R&D cluster can serve as a hub where domestic and foreign companies, academia, and research institutes jointly conduct research and development to meet companies' open innovation demands. The patent box is a system that reduces or exempts taxes when companies generate income from patents. It has a strong effect in attracting global companies and is already implemented in European countries such as the Netherlands and France.

Kwon Pyung-oh, President of KOTRA, emphasized, "As the global value chain is reorganized to prioritize supply stability, opportunities exist for our foreign investment attraction as well," adding, "We must create an opportunity for Korea to take a step forward as a center of advanced industries in preparation for the post-COVID era."

Meanwhile, KOTRA plans to strengthen non-face-to-face investment attraction activities. All processes including investment promotion (IR), consultation, negotiation, and contract signing will be conducted online, and country IRs by core industries such as ICT and semiconductors will also be held remotely. Investment promotion videos by countries and local governments will be produced and distributed to foreign investors.

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