Foreign Business Association Awards 42 Medals and Decorations to FDI Attraction Agencies and Meritorious Individuals

The Korea Foreign Enterprises Association announced on the 22nd that it awarded 42 orders and medals to institutions and individuals who worked to attract foreign direct investment (FDI) over the past year.

The association held the '2023 Foreign Enterprises Day' event the day before at the Grand InterContinental Seoul Parnas in Gangnam-gu, Seoul, and presented awards to FDI contributors. This event, marking its 23rd year, was hosted by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy and organized by the association.

At the event, under the slogan "Beyond Connections," the association held a panel discussion on the theme of "Proactive Foreign Investment Attraction in Response to the Global Supply Chain Restructuring." They discussed successful investment cases of foreign-invested companies. The panel discussion was chaired by Professor Lee Seong-bong of the Department of Business Administration at Seoul Women’s University. Panelists included Ahn Byung-soo, Director of the Foreign Investment Research Center, Lee Min-young, Director of Investment Policy at the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, and representatives of foreign companies.

The Silver Tower Order of Industrial Service Merit was awarded to Son Geon-seok, Chief R&D Officer of Korea Umicore, and the Bronze Tower Order of Industrial Service Merit to Kim Dong-jin, Vice President of ON Semiconductor Korea Co., Ltd. The Industrial Service Merit was awarded to five companies: Edward Korea, Schaeffler Korea, J-Set Statchip Pack Korea, Rohm and Haas Electronic Materials Korea, and Korea Integris. Four Presidential Citations, seven Prime Minister Citations, and 24 Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy Citations were awarded to foreign companies, businesspeople, and institutions that contributed to the development of the Korean economy.

The association was established in 1978 as a corporation authorized by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. Representing approximately 16,000 foreign-invested companies, it serves as a bridge between governments. It promotes support for foreign-invested companies’ investment and management activities and proposes policies to enhance benefits for foreign companies. Based on this, it provides various services to ensure that foreign-invested companies can focus on economic activities in Korea without discrimination.

Seo Young-hoon, president of the association, said, "I am confident that if foreign-invested companies and the Korean government become one team to promote the creation of an innovation ecosystem, we will have another opportunity for a leap forward." He added, "Through this event, we will actively promote the future growth potential of the Republic of Korea to foreign-invested companies and strive to attract investment."

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