By Kim Hyun-cheol
Staff Reporter
Thanks to a recent revision of the Foreign Investors Law, South Korea has attracted a $30 million investment deal for a gas facility.
Germany's Linde Group, one of the leading global industrial gas and engineering companies, signed a memorandum of understanding Tuesday with Gyeonggi Province to build a plant to produce hydrogen for light-emitting diode (LED) production in the Yongin/Giheung area in the province, the Ministry of Knowledge Economy said.
Linde has already invested $270 million in Korea so far, but decided to inject more money as local demand is sharply on the rise with the growth of LED-related industries, the ministry said.
``The deal is expected to add more driving force to the Korean LED industry. The Korean government is all set to support the company so the investment can lead to satisfactory results," said Kim Hyung-sik, the ministry's assistant minister for trade and investment.
The project was made possible with the passage of a new bill to facilitate direct foreign investment at the National Assembly earlier this month.
Linde's planned site for the plant falls in a region with measures in place to prevent overcrowding, which doesn't normally allow facilities bigger than 500 square meters to be newly established.
However, Gyeonggi Province solicited for an amendment to the regulation, claiming that it was pushing foreign investors away from the province.
The move worked, and the government made a revision to allow large-sized foreign investors to be exempt from such restrictions, which was passed in the legislature.
The Munich-based maker accounts for some 26 percent of all industrial gases, which refer to a group of gases commercially manufactured and sold to various industries. A large amount of high-purity hydrogen is necessary for LED production.
The global market for industrial gases is estimated to be over 80 trillion won. The Korean market, currently amounting to some 1.3 trillion won, has been growing significantly in recent years.
As interest from foreign investors is expected to remain strong in relation to local green industries including LED production, the ministry plans to carry out a series of promotions to attract investment from foreign-based companies with enhanced incentives available for them.