"Leap to a Leading Innovation Ecosystem City in South Korea"… 17-18th Incheon Free Economic Zone 20th Anniversary International Forum

An international forum commemorating the 20th anniversary of the launch of Korea's Free Economic Zones and the 20th anniversary of the Incheon Free Economic Zone Authority will be held to discuss future development directions.

On the 5th, the Incheon Free Economic Zone Authority announced that, in collaboration with the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy's Free Economic Zone Planning Division, it will hold the "20th Anniversary International Forum on the Launch of Free Economic Zones" both online and offline at the Sheraton Grand Incheon on the 17th and 18th, with participation from domestic and international government officials, local governments, and academia.

Under the theme "Leap to Korea's Innovative Ecosystem City," this forum will feature government officials (from the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy), overseas city and economic zone representatives, and experts discussing directions for "leaping to an innovative ecosystem city," sharing the "DNA of future cities," and exploring global cooperation networks such as gateway economic and special zones, as well as development directions based on future technologies like artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics.

On the first day of the forum, Edward L. Glaeser, a Harvard University economics professor and authority in urban economics and public economics from the United States, will deliver the keynote speech titled "Future Directions of Free Economic Zones from the Perspective of Urban Growth."

Following this, there will be a tour of exhibition booths promoting the Incheon Free Economic Zone Authority and nine other economic zones nationwide, along with Policy Session 1, which explores "The Present and Future of Global Free Economic Zones" through economic special zones in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Indonesia, Poland, and China, and Cooperation Session 1, themed "Achievements and Development Directions of Free Economic Zone Innovation Ecosystem Projects," involving the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy and economic zone authorities nationwide.

Incheon Free Economic Zone Authority Headquarters Exterior

On the second day of the forum, themed "20 Years of Incheon Free Economic Zone, an Era of Transition," Lee Jung-dong, a technology economy innovation policy expert famous for his books "The Time of Accumulation" and "The Path of Accumulation," and a professor at Seoul National University Graduate School of Engineering, will deliver the keynote speech titled "The First Question ? Conditions of Technologically Advanced Countries."

Additionally, Policy Session 2 will discuss "Incheon Free Economic Zone Authority's 20th Anniversary Achievements and Future Development Directions" with the Incheon Institute and the Green Climate Fund (GCF), and Cooperation Session 2 will discuss the "Global Gateway Economic and Special Zone City Cooperation Network" with Yokohama in Japan, the Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC) in Thailand, Iskandar in Malaysia, and Haiphong in Vietnam.

Following this, Industry Session 1 will explore "The Future of Industrial Innovation and the Role of Free Economic Zones" through AI and robotics, integrated resorts, urban air mobility (UAM), and the content industry, while Industry Session 2 will discuss "Technologies and Policies Leading the Normalization of AI in Daily Life" with the Korea Women Information Society.

An official from the Incheon Free Economic Zone Authority stated, "Through this international forum, we plan to focus on advancing Korea's economic special zones beyond their status as globally leading economic zones by increasing investment and trade scale, thereby transforming into an innovative ecosystem city capable of global business in Northeast Asia."

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