Incheon Free Economic Zone Authority Attracts $550 Million in FDI by Q3 This Year... Notable Achievements in Bio Sector

The Incheon Free Economic Zone Authority announced on October 13 that the cumulative amount of reported foreign direct investment (FDI) reached 553.5 million dollars by the third quarter of this year, achieving 92.3% of its target of 600 million dollars.

The quarterly reported FDI amounts were 309.61 million dollars in the first quarter, 184.09 million dollars in the second quarter, and 58.8 million dollars in the third quarter. FDI refers to investments of more than 100 million won, with foreign ownership of at least 10%, and allows for relatively flexible business operations within Korea.

The Incheon Free Economic Zone Authority explained that there were notable achievements in the bio sector, which is one of the core strategic industries targeted for investment attraction.

In the first half of this year, the following investments were reported: 250 million dollars from Sartorius Korea Operations, a leading global materials and components company; 28.7 million dollars from Lotte Biologics; 24.6 million dollars from Toki Advanced Materials, a semiconductor company; 119.6 million dollars from Ørsted, a renewable energy company; and 61.4 million dollars from Costco Cheongna, a distribution and development company. In the third quarter, a report was filed for 52.5 million dollars from Starfield Cheongna, among others.

Sartorius Korea construction site. In addition to the already confirmed and reported investment of 300 million dollars, Sartorius made an additional investment of 250 million dollars in the first quarter to expand production, research and education facilities, and contract testing facilities. Incheon Free Economic Zone Authority

FDI arrivals also reached 391.2 million dollars, surpassing this year's target of 350 million dollars and more than 2.8 times higher than last year. As a result, the Incheon Free Economic Zone Authority has recorded a cumulative FDI reported amount of 16.7239 billion dollars since its establishment.

The Authority analyzed that these achievements were made despite unstable domestic and international political situations, global economic uncertainties, and tariff hikes. It attributed the success to proactive investment promotion activities such as investor relations (IR) and continuous expansion of foreign resident infrastructure.

The Incheon Free Economic Zone Authority plans to actively pursue sector-specific investment attraction in order to maintain its FDI reporting target of 600 million dollars and FDI arrival target of 350 million dollars this year, focusing on the medical and bio industries, advanced and core strategic industries, and tourism, leisure, and cultural content industries.

Yoon Wonseok, Commissioner of the Incheon Free Economic Zone Authority, stated, "We expect to exceed 600 million dollars in reported FDI again this year, following last year. In particular, we anticipate that new large-scale investment projects in the bio and semiconductor sectors, as well as the Asian version of Hollywood investment attraction project by the U.S.-based Kessler Group, which is being promoted as part of the K-Con Land initiative, will become more visible."

Groundbreaking ceremony for Lotte Biologics in July last year. Lotte Biologics decided to invest $28.7 million this year following the $55 million investment from 2023 to 2024 for the construction of the first plant at the Bio Campus being developed in Songdo. Incheon Free Economic Zone Authority

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