Incheon Free Economic Zone FDI Reported Amount $428 Million...Achievements in Attracting Investment for Core Strategic Industries

Total Sales of Businesses in Incheon Free Economic Zone Reach 106 Trillion Won
Foreign-Invested Businesses Increase by 8.7%...Sales Amount 38.6837 Trillion Won

The Incheon Free Economic Zone Authority exceeded its foreign direct investment (FDI) attraction target despite ongoing adverse investment conditions following the COVID-19 pandemic.

On the 2nd, the Incheon Free Economic Zone Authority announced that last year's FDI declaration amount totaled $428 million (approximately 554 billion KRW), surpassing the target of $400 million by 107%. This achievement is attributed to efforts to expand investment attraction centered on key strategic industries such as bio-healthcare, tourism and leisure, and advanced industries.

Specifically, companies such as Lotte Biologics, Sartorius Korea Operations, and Inspire Integrated Resort declared FDI, and contracts were signed related to BMW Korea's establishment of an automotive electronic system development and testing center, marking significant progress.

Panoramic view of Songdo International City in Incheon Free Economic Zone [Photo provided by Incheon Free Economic Zone Authority]

The Incheon Free Economic Zone Authority aims to become "the Incheon Free Economic Zone leading the realization of a world-class city." This year, it plans to secure growth engines through investment attraction in core strategic industries. A "world-class city" refers to a human-centered happy city that aims to improve quality of life through culture, history, and environment, based on a super-smart city leading the world in response to the 5th Industrial Revolution era. The authority is committed to playing a leading role in helping Incheon leap forward as a world-class city.

To this end, the Incheon Free Economic Zone Authority plans to accelerate fostering core strategic industries such as bio-healthcare, creating service industry hubs like Shinsegae Starfield in Cheongna International City, attracting investments from companies and research institutions in new industries such as bio-healthcare and renewable energy, supporting the attraction of prestigious foreign educational institutions and domestic universities, and establishing new growth foundations such as the Bio Process Workforce Center.

An official from the Incheon Free Economic Zone Authority stated, "We will continue to discover potential investment companies, including additional designations of free economic zones, and do our best to help the Incheon Free Economic Zone leap forward as a world-class global city through investment attraction in new growth industries such as AI."

Meanwhile, the total sales of businesses located in the Incheon Free Economic Zone have approached 106 trillion KRW.

According to a survey conducted by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy targeting businesses with five or more employees (one or more for foreign-invested companies) located in the Incheon Free Economic Zone, as of the end of 2022, the total sales of these businesses amounted to 105.9361 trillion KRW, a 17.7% increase compared to the previous year (90.0017 trillion KRW). By district, sales were recorded as 86.7966 trillion KRW in Songdo, 15.985 trillion KRW in Yeongjong, and 3.1545 trillion KRW in Cheongna. By industry, wholesale and retail trade led with 44.5375 trillion KRW, followed by manufacturing at 14.0613 trillion KRW, and transportation and warehousing at 11.9306 trillion KRW.

The total number of businesses in the Incheon Free Economic Zone increased by 9.8% to 3,821 from 3,481 the previous year, and the number of employees rose by 14.4% to 110,557 from 96,641. Additionally, the number of foreign-invested companies increased by 8.7% to 224 from 206, and their workforce grew by 22.4% to 35,150 from 28,727. Sales by foreign-invested companies rose by 21.3% to 38.6837 trillion KRW from 31.8979 trillion KRW the previous year.

The core strategic industries within the Incheon Free Economic Zone include the aviation complex logistics industry, bio-healthcare industry, knowledge and tourism service industry, and smart manufacturing industry, with a total of 347 businesses employing 21,693 people. Their sales totaled 18.0092 trillion KRW.

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