Government and Local Governments Focus on Attracting Foreign Investment in Advanced Industries

2020 Foreign Investment Policy Council Meeting Held

[Asia Economy Reporter Moon Chaeseok] The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy announced that on the 15th at 2 p.m., it will hold a 'Foreign Investment Policy Council' chaired by Investment Policy Officer Park Jung-wook at the Government Sejong Complex with investment attraction officers from local governments in the Chungcheong region.

The council was organized to discuss cooperation measures between the government and local governments to revitalize foreign investment attraction amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

The main agenda includes reviewing this year's investment attraction projects promoted by each institution, plans for advanced investment zones, amendments to the 'Foreign Investment Promotion Act,' improvements to foreign investment incentive systems, and revisions to the 'Act on Support for Domestic Return of Overseas Expansion Enterprises' (U-turn Act).

In his opening remarks, Officer Park said, "The domestic and international economic environment is challenging due to Japan's export restrictions, prolonged US-China trade disputes, and concerns over the resurgence of COVID-19," adding, "It is necessary to proactively respond to the reorganization of the global value chain (GVC) based on the success of K-quarantine and turn the crisis into a new opportunity through attracting advanced industry investments."

He stated, "In connection with the 'Materials, Parts, and Equipment 2.0 Strategy' announced on July 9, we plan to actively promote non-face-to-face investment attraction activities by encouraging investments from advanced companies, conducting online investment consultations, and promoting 'Safe Korea' emphasizing COVID-19 response capabilities."

At this meeting, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy will explain improvements to the foreign investment incentive system and plans for promoting advanced investment zones. There will be focused discussions on attracting advanced industries between local governments and KOTRA.

Advanced investment zones are designated areas within existing planned sites such as industrial complexes, providing customized incentives and regulatory exemptions for advanced investments by domestic and foreign companies. The ministry plans to finalize operational plans after gathering opinions from related ministries, local governments, and industry.

Additionally, the ministry will share with local governments the improved support measures for domestic return of overseas expansion enterprises implemented this year and ongoing amendments to the U-turn Act, agreeing to collaborate on revitalizing domestic return attraction.

The ministry and local governments will review the progress of 35 projects in sectors such as automobiles and semiconductors being promoted by local governments in the Chungcheong, Yeongnam, Honam, and metropolitan areas.

They will actively consider and cooperate on difficulties raised by local governments regarding foreign investment, such as entry support, infrastructure establishment, and incentive provision.

To ensure investments materialize without setbacks, continuous communication among the government, local governments, and KOTRA will be maintained through either full in-person meetings or non-face-to-face video conferences depending on the COVID-19 situation.

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