[Incheon FEZ] Incheon FEZ Wants More Help From New Gov’t

Incheon International Airport provides foreign investors with easier access to the Incheon Free Economic Zone.

By Lee Hyo-sik
Staff Reporter

The Incheon Free Economic Zone (IFEZ), the first of its kind in South Korea, is seeking more help from the incoming administration for its efforts to emerge as a leading business, financial and logistics center for Northeast Asia.

It has attracted a great deal of investment from foreign investors and companies over the years with its superb infrastructure, ideal geographical location and highly educated human resources.

The IFEZ Authority recently asked the President-elect Lee Myung-bak's transition team to set up a new committee under direct control of the President and appoint an additional presidential secretary devoted to the development of the area as a business hub in Northeast Asia.

It also proposed that the incoming administration ease restrictions on industrial activities in its 209-square-kilometer area of land encompassing the port city of Incheon, west of Seoul, saying that the regulations are hampering its efforts to draw international companies.

In the name of balanced national development and environmental conservation, the Roh Moo-hyun Administration has restricted industrial activities in Seoul and its adjacent areas. But the policy has forced many firms to move their production facilities to China and other emerging Asian economies rather than relocate operations to provincial areas.

The authority asked the presidential transition committee to enact a special law governing the country's three FEZs that also include Busan-Jinhae and Gwangyang in order to speed up the their development process and help them provide better services to foreign investors and companies.

It is also seeking to receive greater state subsidies for roads and other infrastructure-related projects that are in the zone.

Since its establishment in August 2003, IFEZ has revitalized economic activity not only in the respective administrative districts, but also all over the country, acting as the new growth engine of the world's 13th largest economy.

Over the past five years, IFEZ has attracted more than $9 billion in foreign investment, the largest amount among the country's three free economic zones. If a number of signed memorandums of understanding (MOUs) between the IFEZ Authority and multinational investors and businesses are included, the figure swells to $42 billion.

The zone has also attracted investment worth $688 million from domestic investors and companies over the same period.

One of the reasons why IFEZ is attractive to international investors and firms is Korea's optimal geographical location, with easy access to mainland China and other major Asian markets. The country also boasts of advanced information technology and manufacturing facilities, as well as talented human resources.

IFEZ has also been making an all-out effort to create a state-of-the art business and residential environment for international investors and companies, with roads, bridges and other urban infrastructure currently under construction.

IFEZ Authority Commissioner Lee Hwan-kyun said Incheon has many advantages that are ideal for establishing a free economic zone, adding that it is a coastal city equipped with an internationally competitive airport as well as a seaport, which is the main entry point into Korea.

``IFEZ has been playing a key role in attracting foreign direct investment (FDI), spearheading South Korea's plan to transform itself into a financial, logistics and business hub of Northeast Asia,'' Lee said.

He also said by 2020, when the development plan is completeed, around 4.84 million new jobs will be created to help lower the unemployment rate by 0.2 to 0.3 percent and produce a 1 percent increase in gross domestic product per year. ``We are aiming to attract about $27.6 billion in FDI by 2020.''

IFEZ comprises of three designated areas ― Songdo, Yeongjong and Cheongna ― on a total area of 51,756 acres.

Songdo

Songdo has attracted the most attention from foreign investors as the area is being developed as an international business district with knowledge-based information technology complexes, including the Techno Park, a digital entertainment cluster and bio-industry complexes.

New Songdo City is the world's largest privately run development project.

The U.S.-based company Gale, a developer and marketing agent, is in a real estate joint venture with POSCO Engineering & Construction to develop Songdo City by 2020 inside IFEZ. The city is being built based on the innovative concept of a ``ubiquitous city.''

Early last year, Atlanta-based global real estate developer Portman Holdings signed an MOU with the IFEZ Authority to construct an $11 billion twin-towered 151-story skyscraper in Songdo City, the highest in Northeast Asia.

Portman Holdings plans to complete the tower by August 2010. The proposed 151-story building, 610 meters in height, will be world's second-highest tower, after the 160-story Burj Tower in Dubai ― currently under construction.

``With the inclusion of the twin tower in IFEZ, Songdo will be transformed into a world-class business city on par with Shanghai and Dubai,'' Lee said, adding the twin tower will become a landmark that symbolizes Korea's future growth potential and opportunities.

Also, Incheon Bridge, which connects Incheon International Airport and Songdo, will be completed in 2009. With the existing Incheon Port, the new Songdo Port, and the airport, Songdo will become an ideal sea and air logistics center.

An International Convention Center, a 65-story landmark skyscraper, office buildings, deluxe hotels, shopping malls and a golf course are under construction and scheduled to be completed by the end of the next year.

Also, both foreign and Korean students will start attending the New Songdo City International School, which will open its doors in April, where the classes are held in English. The New York-Presbyterian Hospital, the first foreign-based hospital in Korea, will open this year to better provide medical services to expatriates as well as locals residing in the zone.

As a result of improving residential and business facilities, a number of the world's top-notch universities, including the North Carolina State University, have signed MOUs to set up branch schools and research centers inside IFEZ.

Yeongjong and Cheongna

The Yeongjong area includes the 13,888 acres of the international airport, 4,900 acres of the airport support area, 1,740 acres of the Yongyu and Muui tourism complex, and 703 acres of the Unbok Leisure Complex.

The IFEZ Authority is planning to develop a world-class leisure and recreational tourist are in the Yongyu-Muui area of Yeongjong.

In the Yongyu-Muui Tourist Complex, the native ecology will be preserved.

It has signed a $2 billion MOU with AMEC, a U.K.-based civil engineering company, to build an international business zone near Incheon International Airport on Yeongjong island. It will also develop a world-class leisure and recreational tourist complex there.

The Cheongna Area will have international sports and leisure complex and floral complexes on 4,420 acres. Construction began in the second half of 2005, with completion targeted for 2008. It will also include a golf course, a theme park and other recreational facilities.

GM Daewoo opened a test track and research center in Cheongna last October, which will serve as a cornerstone to make Incheon a base for the Northeast Asian automobile industry.

leehs@koreatimes.co.kr