Local Governments and Foreign-Invested Companies Gather for 'Regional Investment Attraction' Initiative

Expanding Cooperation for Foreign Investment Attraction through the "Five Growth Poles and Three Specialized Regions" Policy
Sharing Successful Settlement Cases of Siemens, Valeo, and Others
"Strengthening Incentives Is Key to Further Attraction"

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy and the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA) held a joint workshop to enhance the capacity of local governments to attract foreign investment.

On April 24, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy and KOTRA announced on April 26 that they hosted the "Regional Foreign Investment Attraction Joint Workshop" at Glad Yeouido, Seoul, inviting local governments, affiliated organizations, and foreign-invested companies operating in Korea.

This workshop was organized by Invest KOREA, KOTRA's dedicated national agency for attracting foreign investment, to strengthen the investment attraction capabilities of local governments and affiliated organizations, and to jointly establish strategies. A total of 194 foreign investment representatives from 59 local governments and public institutions across the country participated.

The program included: ▲ Strategies for attracting foreign investment in line with the "Five Growth Poles and Three Specialized Regions" national balanced development policy ▲ Presentations of local government investment attraction cases and foreign-invested company case studies ▲ Investment attraction trends by advanced industry, including artificial intelligence (AI) and semiconductors.

Scene from the '2026 First Half Local Governments and Related Organizations Foreign Investment Attraction Workshop'. Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA).

Lee Byunghun, Special Committee Chair of the Local Era Committee, explained the "Five Growth Poles and Three Specialized Regions" national balanced development policy, a key government task. He detailed this year's ten core business projects, the development of regional growth engines, and the implementation framework, and provided in-depth explanations on attracting investment in these areas.

Next, among foreign-invested companies that have made direct investments in Korea, Siemens Healthineers, which employs a large workforce outside the capital area, and Valeo, which is conducting research and development (R&D), presented the factors that led them to invest in Korea, their future plans, and what is needed to expand their investments.

Min Woongki, Executive Director of Siemens Healthineers, stated, "Korea has well-developed industrial infrastructure, including manufacturing and ICT. However, to ensure the continued expansion of regional investment, it is necessary to enhance incentives such as long-term fixed tax benefits and increased employment subsidies." Choi Yongwoon, Head of Valeo, added, "To improve the working environment for key industry personnel in local regions, it is necessary to expand the special military service program for specialized high school youth and implement policies to link outstanding talent to non-capital regions," suggesting ways to further attract local talent.

Finally, to share the latest trends in advanced industries and support the development of investment attraction strategies, experts in AI, semiconductors, bio, and robotics were invited to discuss Korea's global competitiveness, strengths, and investment opportunities in each advanced industry with the participants.

The government, KOTRA, local governments and affiliated organizations, as well as the foreign-invested companies in attendance, all agreed that expanding foreign investment is essential for regional growth centered on the "Five Growth Poles and Three Specialized Regions."

Nam Myungwoo, Director-General for Investment Policy at the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, stated, "It is time to spread the positive momentum of last year's record-high foreign investment attraction performance (USD 36.1 billion) to local regions. In addition to the strategic attraction of promising companies, we will expand incentives for companies investing outside the capital area to support regional economic growth."

Kim Taehyung, CEO of Invest KOREA, also said, "Attracting foreign investment is not only an effective way to revitalize local economies but also to create quality jobs for young people. We will continue to create opportunities for collaboration to expand investment attraction to local regions by working together with the government, local governments, affiliated organizations, and existing foreign-invested companies, and we will also cooperate in domestic and overseas IR and investment promotion delegations."

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