Reaching for the Stars With Digital Convergence ... - Korea IT Times

2006-03-12006.3.410:47AM페이지22001채널맥(3443-0701)
Open Korea
/ Invest KOREA Head
Securing Korea’s
Future through FDI
With the recent appointment of
Chung Tong-Soo as Head of Invest
KOREA to replace Alan Timblick,
there will be keen interest in how successfully
he will attract foreign investment into
Korea. He has an impressive career background,
such as having served as Deputy
Assistant Secretary of Commerce in the
administration of President Bill Clinton,
and as an attorney working to boost
Korea/U.S. trade.
He is considered to be an excellent
choice for the position as he is fluent in
English and Korean, understands the U.S.
and Korean points of view, has solid experience
in the U.S. commerce department,
and has a proven ability as an organizer
and strategist.
Speaking after his inauguration as head
of Invest Korea, he stressed that his top priority
was to reinvigorate Invest KOREA,
pointing out that there are limitations to
what an individual such as himself could
accomplish in seeking foreign investors
and inducing FDI (foreign direct investment)
into Korea.
Global Leadership
He emphasized the importance of abolishing
unnecessary restrictions obstructing
foreign investment in close cooperation
with foreign investment-associated ministries
such as the Ministry of Commerce,
Industry and Energy, Ministry of
Construction and Transportation, and
Ministry of Government Legislation as
well as central government agencies like
the Korea Customs Service and the
“Speaking after his inauguration as head of Invest
Korea, Chung stressed that his top priority was to
reinvigorate Invest KOREA, pointing out that there are
limitations to what an individual such as himself could
accomplish in seeking foreign investors and inducing
FDI (foreign direct investment) into Korea.”
National Tax Service.
Mr. Chung seeks the abolition of
restrictions to enable Korea to become a
financial hub for Northeast Asia, and the
broad-scale promotion of investment
incentives offered by the Korean government
to attract foreign R&D centers.
To underpin the success of foreign
investment in R&D, the Korean government
offers a comprehensive range of
New
Korean/American
head of Invest KOREA
dedicated to realizing
the “Korean Dream”
incentives such as tax exemptions, lease of
land at extremely favorable rates, financial
support, cash grants, customs duty exemption,
and the chance to engage in national
R&D projects, according to Chung.
In particular, Chung encouraged foreign
investors in research and development to
take advantage of R&D Human Resource
Development Program, which is administered
by Invest KOREA.
When comparing Korea’s investment
environment with neighboring competitors
such as China and Singapore, he pointed
out that it could not be said that Korea’s
investment environment for foreign investment
has significantly improved in recent
years, citing a host of government regulations
that discourage foreign investment
together with unstable labor/management
relations.
Chung named the rapid abolition of
unnecessary controls and the stabilization
of labor/management relation as the most
urgent tasks necessary to attract further
FDI. In this connection he wants the central
and autonomous regional governments
to streamline restrictions and simplify
administrative procedures in order to make
it easier to win approval for factory establishment,
for example.
He stressed that the situation regarding
labor relations in Korea is somewhat exaggerated,
not the least because union membership
has fallen to 11 percent of the
workforce. However, Chung said he hopes
to promote the concepts of dialogue and
communication among foreign investors in
dealing with their workforces in order to
avoid labor conflicts or resolve them
peacefully.
Chung Tong-soo,
new head of Invest KOREA
On another front, he is convinced that
corruption cannot be tolerated if Korea is
to progress to the league of the most
advanced economies.
Challenge & Opportunity
In conjunction with the challenge
posed by China, Hong Kong and
Singapore in attracting foreign direct
investment, Chung insists that Korea must
stay ahead in the fields in which it has a
distinct comparative advantage, namely
semiconductors, displays, liquid crystal
displays (LCDs), plasma display panels
(PDPs), automobiles, shipbuilding, and
steel.
Foreign direct investment - associated R&D incentives
The newly appointed Invest KOREA
Head, who immigrated to the United
States as a high school student with his
family, foresees all Koreans achieving a
“Korean Dream” through their efforts on
the lines of “American Dream,” but advises
that this would be difficult to accomplish
on the back of the industries of the
past.
Chung pointed out that Korea is in no
position to compete on labor costs in areas
such low-end textiles and electronics that
would be better shifting to cheap-labor
countries like Vietnam and China.
Rather, he continued, the future of
Korea lies with its globally successful
industries that must keep their lead
through strategic partnerships with foreign
companies intended to enhance their
technological, financial and marketing
capability.
Chung notes that given the rising
antipathy toward foreign capital, both
government in its various branches and
the media have a responsibility to educate
and inform the Korean public at large as
to why foreign direct investment is vital to
the progress of the Korean economy in
terms of employment creation, technology
transfer, access to foreign markets and
the introduction of advanced management
techniques.
In closing, he stressed the importance
of foreign direct investment attraction
once more by citing the case of the United
States, which through a policy of proactively
encouraging foreign direct
investment has built a competitive human
resource base, plus introduced advanced
technology and massive amounts of overseas
financing to give the American economy
its unparalleled dynamism, and in the
process, driven marginal enterprises from
the marketplace.
“The newly appointed
Invest KOREA Head, who
immigrated to the United
States as a high school
student with his family,
foresees all Koreans
achieving a “Korean
Dream” through their
efforts on the lines of
“American Dream,” but
advises that this would be
difficult to accomplish on
the back of the industries
of the past.”
Qualifications Benefits Procedure
HIGH-TECH Business within the category of Tax Holidays (5yrs 100%, 2yrs 50%) Application to MOFE
Status HIGH-TECH BUSINESS or Lease of Land in FIZ Evaluation of the Application
INDUSTRY SUPPORT SERVICES Financial Support for Employment & Training Final Decision in 20 days
Foreign Manufacturing Tax Holidays (5 yrs 100%, 2 yrs 50%) Documentation with Local
Investment FDI $30M Lease of Land Government
Zone New Establishment of Plant Support for Basic Infrastructure Application to MOCIE
R&D Financial Support for Employment & Training Evaluation by Foreign Investment
HIGH-TECH Status
Committee
New R&D Facilities & FDI $5M
Over 10 of R&D Personnel
Cash Grant HIGH-TECH status Granted Cash can be used for Designation of Negotiation Partner
(or Parts & Material Speciality) Employment & Training Preliminary Negotiation with MOCIE
Manufacturing Land Acquisition & Rent Application to MOCIE
New Plant Facilities & FDI $10M Construction Cost Evaluation by Foreign Investment
R&D Set-up Cost for Basic Infrastructure Committee
New R&D Facilities & FDI $5M Purchase of Capital Goods, R&D
Over 20 of R&D Personnel equipment & Materials
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