Incheon has launched a large-scale sales drive to attract investment from foreign companies operating in Korea, putting forward Gyeyang Techno Valley and artificial intelligence (AI) connected cars as its two pillars.
The city hosted a "business roundtable" on July 3-4 at the Inspire Resort in Yeongjong, inviting more than 50 CEOs of foreign-invested companies. The event aimed to go beyond simple promotion and connect to actual investment.
Two key presentations were made at the event. Jeon Ji-sook, head of Incheon's investment attraction division, introduced the "Gyeyang Techno Valley Investment Attraction Strategy." Lee Hyuk, head of the AI Connectivity Research Center at the Korea Automotive Technology Institute, gave a presentation on the theme of "AI Connected Car Incheon." The city presented the two fields it is pushing as future growth engines side by side to the foreign-invested companies.
The event partner, the Foreign Company Association Korea (FORCA), is a foreign-invested company support organization established in 1978. It carries out various corporate support activities for its roughly 1,500 member companies. After signing a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with FORCA last year, Incheon raised the level of cooperation this year through a joint event. CEOs of member companies including Siemens Korea and STATS ChipPAC Korea attended, and Moon Go-young, FORCA chairman and head of RWE Korea, was also present.
Incheon put its already-built infrastructure front and center. On the second day, the participating CEOs visited the Incheon Free Economic Zone (IFEZ) promotion center and the smart city operation center, touring the integrated operation system. Showing off advanced infrastructure already in operation, rather than a development blueprint, is seen as a strategy to speed up investment decisions.
The key is tangible results. Whether Incheon can move beyond MOUs and promotional events to attract actual foreign direct investment (FDI) remains a task for the future.
Lee Seon-ho, director general of Incheon's Global City Bureau, said, "Through exchanges with global companies, we will expand practical investment attraction and cooperation opportunities."
