Most Popular
-
1
Heavy snow alerts issued in greater Seoul area, Gangwon Province; over 20 cm of snow seen in Seoul
-
2
Seoul blanketed by heaviest Nov. snow, with more expected
-
3
NewJeans to terminate contract with Ador
-
4
Seoul snowfall now third heaviest on record
-
5
Samsung shakes up management, commits to reviving chip business
-
6
Heavy snow of up to 40 cm blankets Seoul for 2nd day
-
7
How $70 funeral wreaths became symbol of protest in S. Korea
-
8
Hybe consolidates chairman Bang Si-hyuk’s regime with leadership changes
-
9
Why cynical, 'memeified' makeovers of kids' characters are so appealing
-
10
BOK makes surprise 2nd rate cut to boost growth
The Incheon Free Economic Zone, the first of its kind in Korea, on Tuesday marked 10 years since its establishment.
IFEZ was established with the goal to explore a new growth engine for the nation’s global competitiveness. Now it is being regarded as Korea’s exemplary free economic zone, according to IFEZ Authority officials.
IFEZ ― having set out to reach a population of 640,000 people ― has been pursued in three stages: building infrastructural groundwork by 2009, attracting major investment by 2014, and finishing the development project by 2020.
The success of Incheon’s free economic zone can be mainly attributed to the sharp yet stable increase in foreign direct investment, according to experts.
The cumulative foreign direct investment, which was $1 million in 2004, amounted to $5.06 billion as of September 2013.
Last year, IFEZ had the nation’s second-highest FDI at 13.1 percent of the nation’s total ― its best performance since opening in 2003. That year the FEZ contributed to nearly 67 percent of the city’s foreign capital.
These results continued amid the global economic slowdown, and FDI is expected to further vitalize the regional economy in the near future.
The region is also becoming a global city with the entry of the Green Climate Fund main office and some branches of the U.N. and other international organizations.
More influential organizations are expected to join the IFEZ, one of which is the Korean office for the World Bank, according to officials.
“If the World Bank regional branch takes a position within the IFEZ alongside the already present GCF, IFEZ is surely to become more internationally competitive and a global leader for the green growth campaign,” said Lee Jong-cheol, commissioner of the IFEZ Authority.
Moreover, the Songdo global campus is on its way to becoming a global educational hub.
The goal is to integrate the different major programs offered at schools abroad to create a type of overall university that will offer only the best and most competitive studies.
It will also act as a core for Asian and Western knowledge or culture to be shared, as well as a central hub of research and development for education in Northeast Asia.
With one school already operative and George Mason University to soon join, IFEZ is looking at a total of about 10 schools and 10,000 students.
Another part of the success of IFEZ, or rather its future success to come, is the city’s scheme to become a “bio-Mecca,” in addition to the considerable interest and investment from global corporations.
The current vision for IFEZ contains three main objectives ― promote new growth, urbanize international organizations and realize the green city concept ― that will ultimately make IFEZ a “global network hub” and one of the world’s top free economic zones, officials hope.
Up to this point, 45.2 percent of the total development has been completed.
As of the end of August, the IFEZ total population stands at 181,742, of which Songdo, once merely an empty plain of mud flats, is home to a noteworthy 66,511 people.
By Kim Joo-hyun (jhk@heraldcorp.com)
IFEZ was established with the goal to explore a new growth engine for the nation’s global competitiveness. Now it is being regarded as Korea’s exemplary free economic zone, according to IFEZ Authority officials.
IFEZ ― having set out to reach a population of 640,000 people ― has been pursued in three stages: building infrastructural groundwork by 2009, attracting major investment by 2014, and finishing the development project by 2020.
The success of Incheon’s free economic zone can be mainly attributed to the sharp yet stable increase in foreign direct investment, according to experts.
The cumulative foreign direct investment, which was $1 million in 2004, amounted to $5.06 billion as of September 2013.
Last year, IFEZ had the nation’s second-highest FDI at 13.1 percent of the nation’s total ― its best performance since opening in 2003. That year the FEZ contributed to nearly 67 percent of the city’s foreign capital.
These results continued amid the global economic slowdown, and FDI is expected to further vitalize the regional economy in the near future.
The region is also becoming a global city with the entry of the Green Climate Fund main office and some branches of the U.N. and other international organizations.
More influential organizations are expected to join the IFEZ, one of which is the Korean office for the World Bank, according to officials.
“If the World Bank regional branch takes a position within the IFEZ alongside the already present GCF, IFEZ is surely to become more internationally competitive and a global leader for the green growth campaign,” said Lee Jong-cheol, commissioner of the IFEZ Authority.
Moreover, the Songdo global campus is on its way to becoming a global educational hub.
The goal is to integrate the different major programs offered at schools abroad to create a type of overall university that will offer only the best and most competitive studies.
It will also act as a core for Asian and Western knowledge or culture to be shared, as well as a central hub of research and development for education in Northeast Asia.
With one school already operative and George Mason University to soon join, IFEZ is looking at a total of about 10 schools and 10,000 students.
Another part of the success of IFEZ, or rather its future success to come, is the city’s scheme to become a “bio-Mecca,” in addition to the considerable interest and investment from global corporations.
The current vision for IFEZ contains three main objectives ― promote new growth, urbanize international organizations and realize the green city concept ― that will ultimately make IFEZ a “global network hub” and one of the world’s top free economic zones, officials hope.
Up to this point, 45.2 percent of the total development has been completed.
As of the end of August, the IFEZ total population stands at 181,742, of which Songdo, once merely an empty plain of mud flats, is home to a noteworthy 66,511 people.
By Kim Joo-hyun (jhk@heraldcorp.com)
-
Articles by Korea Herald
