Last Year, Gyeongja Free Economic Zone FDI Reached $1.31 Billion... Highest in the Past 3 Years

42.8% Increase Compared to Previous Year

[Sejong=Asia Economy Reporter Kwon Haeyoung] Last year, foreign direct investment (FDI) in economic free zones increased by more than 40% compared to the previous year, achieving the highest performance in the past three years.

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy announced on the 4th that FDI in economic free zones in 2021 recorded $1.31 billion based on reported figures, a 42.8% increase from the previous year, and $840 million based on arrival figures, a 126% increase.

This is the highest performance in the past three years. Reported FDI, which was around $1.69 billion in 2017-2018, decreased to $1.02 billion in 2019 and $910 million in 2020, then increased to $1.31 billion last year. Accordingly, since the introduction of the economic free zone system in 2003, cumulative reported FDI has surpassed $20 billion, reaching $20.5 billion.

Specifically, greenfield investments, service industry investments, and investments from the European Union (EU), Greater China, and the Philippines stood out.

Greenfield investments involving new or expanded facilities amounted to $1.28 billion, accounting for 98% of the total performance. By industry, the service sector recorded $780 million, a 64.7% increase, in areas such as resort development, logistics, and research and development (R&D). By country, the EU accounted for the largest share at 40.8%, followed by Greater China at 31.6%, North America at 10.6%, the Philippines at 10.0%, and Japan at 6.0%.

By economic free zone, foreign investment was made as follows: Incheon $710 million, Busanjinhae $290 million, East Coast area $100 million, Gyeonggi $90 million, Gwangyang Bay area $80 million, Chungbuk $20 million, and Daegu-Gyeongbuk $10 million.

An Seong-il, head of the Economic Free Zone Planning Division at the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, said, "Despite the difficult conditions caused by the spread of COVID-19, economic free zones have achieved excellent foreign investment attraction results," and added, "Based on the development plans established by each economic free zone authority, we will support the creation of innovation ecosystems centered on key regional strategic industries and the revitalization of investment attraction."

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