Investment Attraction Achievements Graphic During Kim Dong-yeon's North America Business Trip as Governor of Gyeonggi Province
Gyeonggi Province Governor Kim Dong-yeon achieved investment attraction results worth a total of 1.4 trillion KRW during his business trip to the United States and Canada.
During this visit, Governor Kim traveled across seven major cities in two countries and four states, including Sacramento, San Francisco, San Diego, and Los Angeles in California; Phoenix in Arizona; Seattle in Washington; and Victoria in British Columbia (BC), Canada, engaging in activities to attract investment and strengthen exchange and cooperation.
During his North America trip, Governor Kim secured a total of 1.428 trillion KRW in overseas investments through six companies, signing two investment agreements (MOUs) and four letters of intent (LOIs) for investment.
Among the companies whose names were disclosed, Shinsegae Simon Co., Ltd. committed 350 billion KRW, and Cosmo ENG Co., Ltd. committed 61 billion KRW. Additionally, global semiconductor materials company A announced an investment intention worth 1 billion USD (approximately 1.36 trillion KRW). Including a previous 500 billion KRW, A expressed an additional investment intention of about 860 billion KRW.
To secure A’s additional investment, Governor Kim held two video conferences during the visit to encourage the investment. The video conferences involved Governor Kim in the U.S., the U.S. headquarters, the Asia regional representative in Shanghai, and the Korean representative. As a result, A declared a large-scale investment intention of 1 billion USD. Furthermore, investment intentions were received from electric vehicle parts company B for 100 billion KRW and semiconductor equipment company C for 57 billion KRW.
Accordingly, Gyeonggi Province succeeded in attracting investments totaling 1.428 trillion KRW during the visit, including two agreements worth 411 billion KRW and three letters of intent worth 1.017 trillion KRW. Separately, semiconductor-related company D also expressed an investment intention, though the specific amount was not disclosed.
Gyeonggi Province explained that this investment attraction is meaningful not only because it brings overseas technology to Korean companies for commercialization but also because it attracted companies to the northern and eastern regions of Gyeonggi, which face difficulties due to overlapping regulations.
In addition to the investment attraction achievements, Governor Kim met with governors of four states?California, Washington, Arizona in the U.S., and BC in Canada?to establish mutual cooperation systems.
In California, he met with Governor Gavin Newsom and agreed to resume a friendly cooperative relationship between the two regions for the first time in 12 years. After signing the memorandum of understanding, Governor Kim told reporters, "Governor Newsom did not just speak but made a promise. He expressed a very strong willingness to cooperate, which made me happy. The atmosphere was very positive," explaining the outcome of the meeting.
In Washington and Arizona, he opened the door to exchange and cooperation. Both regions had been barren grounds for exchanges with Gyeonggi Province, making these the first visits by a Gyeonggi governor. In Arizona, he met Governor Katie Hobbs and signed a friendly cooperation agreement. This made Arizona the fourth U.S. state to establish a friendly cooperative relationship with Gyeonggi Province, following Texas, Michigan, and California.
During the trip, Governor Kim also visited Google, NVIDIA, unicorn company BizAI, and Arizona State University.
At the meeting with NVIDIA, he said, "From the perspective of small and medium-sized enterprises, it is difficult to have the opportunity to meet and greet representatives from big tech companies like Google and NVIDIA," emphasizing, "It was a good opportunity for exchange."
Governor Kim also visited the University of Washington and UC San Diego, urging active support for young people participating in the Gyeonggi Youth Ladder Program. At the University of Washington, 30 youths will participate in the program from July 8 to 26, and at UC San Diego, 25 youths will participate from July 1 to 26.
At a meeting with BC Premier John Horgan in Canada, Governor Kim agreed to increase the working holiday visa quota from the existing 4,000 to 12,000.
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