Incheon City is promoting a plan to designate some areas of Ganghwa-gun and Ongjin-gun as Opportunity Development Zones.
On the 17th, the city held a kickoff meeting for the "Research Project to Establish a Strategy for Designating Incheon-type Opportunity Development Zones." Representatives from the city and relevant departments of Ganghwa and Ongjin counties attended the meeting to share the project plan and exchange various opinions.
Opportunity Development Zones are areas that receive comprehensive support such as tax and financial assistance, regulatory exemptions, and improvements in living conditions to attract large-scale investments. Local governments apply for designation, and the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy designates the zones.
Incheon City held a working-level meeting immediately after the enactment of the "Special Act on Local Autonomy Decentralization and Regional Balanced Development," related to Opportunity Development Zones, in July last year to discuss the direction of promotion and conducted a preliminary survey for planning Opportunity Development Zones with support from the Local Era Committee.
This project will be carried out over a total of nine months until December this year, performing tasks such as establishing a development strategy for Opportunity Development Zones, selecting locations and calculating designated areas, preparing investment attraction plans, and reviewing support projects and regulatory exemptions.
Based on the results of the project, the city plans to apply for the designation of Opportunity Development Zones to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy next year. Additionally, a "Opportunity Development Zone Promotion Team," including related organizations and external experts, will be formed to closely cooperate.
An official from Incheon City stated, "We will prepare well for the application for designation of Opportunity Development Zones so that Ganghwa and Ongjin counties can leap forward as regional innovation growth hubs."
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