By Yi Whan-woo
The management of Gaeseong Industrial Complex (GIC) will seek foreign investors, the Ministry of Unification said Wednesday.
The ministry said the inter-Korean industrial park in the border city of Gaeseong in the North will open a help center for international investors from Friday.
“Our help center will be convenient for foreign firms that are interested in launching businesses at the Gaeseong Industrial Complex,” a ministry official said on condition of anonymity. “It will also be effective in attracting global investors who operate businesses in South Korea.”
Only 125 South Korean enterprises currently run plants at the industrial park, jointly run by the two Koreas since their agreement to build it in June 2000.
The ministry said interpretation, including into English and Chinese, will be available to promote the GIC, which is 10 kilometers north of the Demilitarized Zone.
According to the government, Seoul and Pyongyang reached a consensus in September last year to open the doors to non-Korean investors. The regime had temporarily shut down the complex from April last year in protest against an annual joint military exercise between South Korea and the United States.
Up to 20 enterprises from the U.S., China, Germany and Russia among others have made inquiries about investments into the joint industrial complex, the government said. It added that a couple had already visited the park for a feasibility study on their possible investments.
The ministry said Internet and mobile phone services will be crucial for the GIC to draw foreign enterprises.
“The overseas firms value the complex’s cheap labor costs, high productivity and easy access to a logistics network,” it said.
“However, they are hesitant in finalizing their decisions for investment because of poor access to the Internet and mobile phone services. They want to make sure they can interact with their headquarters.”
South and North Korea reached an agreement in February on enabling easier access to the industrial complex by utilizing the Internet and computerized systems, but this has not been implemented due to strained relations between the two Koreas.
Expectation has been growing recently over a possible thaw in inter-Korean relations with both sides showing signs of easing their hard-line policies toward each other.