Gwangju City Takes First Step in Establishing and Activating Investment Attraction Strategy

Mayor Kang Ki-jung Chairs 'TF Team Meeting'

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Yoon Jamin] Gwangju Metropolitan City has taken the first step to establish and activate an investment attraction strategy for the 8th term of the elected government to realize the “City of Opportunities Where Tomorrow Shines.”

On the 22nd, according to Gwangju City, Mayor Kang Gi-jung chaired the “1st Gwangju Metropolitan City Joint Response TF Meeting for Investment Attraction” and ordered the establishment of an investment attraction promotion strategy and activation plan to quickly respond to rapidly changing domestic and international situations.

The meeting was attended by more than 30 people, including eight departments in charge of Gwangju’s future strategic projects, Gwangju Free Economic Zone Authority, Gwangju Technopark Foundation, Gwangju Green Car Promotion Agency Foundation, Korea Industrial Complex Corporation Gwangju Regional Headquarters, Korea International Trade Association, KOTRA Gwangju-Jeonnam Support Group, five investment attraction organizations, experts in trade and economy, and businesspeople.

The meeting was mainly attended by working-level officials to avoid formal reporting, and in a free discussion atmosphere, they presented difficulties experienced on-site and directions for improvement.

As measures to revitalize investment attraction in the 8th term of the elected government, the attendees proposed ▲ establishing differentiated investment incentives and tax reduction support from other local governments ▲ formulating feasible investment attraction promotion strategies ▲ creating new workforce support and training programs tailored to companies’ needs ▲ sharing investment attraction information and cooperation ▲ analyzing successful and failed cases of investment attraction, and agreed to establish specific tasks through regular meetings in the future.

Gwangju City plans to review the proposed opinions and utilize them to resolve corporate difficulties and establish future investment attraction activity strategies.

In addition, since the beginning of the 8th term of the elected government, Gwangju has been making efforts not only to launch the joint response TF, which had been stalled due to COVID-19, but also to continuously expand exchanges to pioneer overseas markets such as the United States, China, and Vietnam through several investment attraction briefings and conferences.

Mayor Kang said, “Investments include global investments, reshoring investments for domestic returning companies, reinvestments within the Gwangju region, and investments in Gwangju by companies from other cities and provinces, but none of these can be prioritized as all are valuable investments,” and added, “The internal and external situations are more difficult than ever, especially the region is a tilted playing field, but we launched this TF because we must achieve the best results in the given environment for Gwangju’s future.”

He continued, “We must utilize both sides of the coin of start-ups and investments through creative and proactive administration,” and urged, “Let us join forces to establish short-, medium-, and long-term tasks for investment attraction tailored to regional characteristics and accumulate experiences that prove investing in Gwangju will surely succeed.”

Meanwhile, Mayor Kang plans to participate in the International Consumer Electronics Show (CES), the world’s largest exhibition related to advanced technologies such as information technology (IT), artificial intelligence (AI), energy, and bio, held in the United States in January 2023, and promote companies and attract investments by operating exhibition halls with local companies and universities.