Seoul City Signs Business Agreement with Hong Kong Company... Accelerating Global Company Attraction

'Seoul Forward' Held in Hong Kong with 100 Global Companies Attending
MOU Signed with 3 Local Firms for Seoul Entry... Package Support Provided
Collaboration Promoted in High-Impact Sectors like Finance and Bio Industries

The Seoul Metropolitan Government is accelerating efforts to attract global companies by signing memorandums of understanding with Hong Kong companies seeking to enter the Seoul market. In particular, it has decided to provide FDI (Foreign Direct Investment) package support to facilitate the smooth domestic settlement of global companies.

On the 9th, Seoul announced that it will hold a corporate attraction briefing session called 'Seoul Forward' at the Alexandria Hotel in Hong Kong from the 11th, aiming to attract foreign companies and talent and leap into the global top 5 cities.

This briefing session is jointly hosted by Invest Seoul, the city's dedicated investment attraction organization, and the Hong Kong Chamber of Commerce. About 100 global and local companies based in Hong Kong are expected to participate, with programs including ▲promotion of Seoul's investment environment such as incentives for entering Seoul by Invest Seoul ▲introduction of Seoul's industrial environment for global companies entering Seoul ▲one-on-one customized consulting between experts in fields such as law, accounting, labor, and foreign exchange and companies.

Business agreements with companies are also planned. Three promising local companies wishing to enter Seoul?Qstem (developer of hair regeneration new drugs based on induced pluripotent stem cells), APOP (provider of direct circuit and AI chip design solutions for high-performance computing), and Quantbit (a generative AI solution company producing text into images and videos)?will sign memorandums of understanding with Invest Seoul.

Going forward, these companies will receive comprehensive support through Invest Seoul in the form of an 'all-in-one package' covering the entire process of entering Seoul, including preliminary market research, corporation establishment, management support such as labor and legal affairs, and office leasing to successfully settle in Seoul. Additionally, Seoul will provide office spaces to support global companies entering Seoul in financial and advanced industry clusters such as the 'Seoul International Finance Office (Yeouido)' and the 'Seoul Bio Hub Global Center (Hongneung)'.

Currently, Seoul plans to expand the number of office spaces within the International Finance Office from 8 to about 20 by 2025 to foster the development of the Yeouido international financial center. Invest Seoul has been promoting the 'SFH Connect' project since last year to activate human exchange among financial personnel within the Yeouido financial center at the International Finance Office.

Based on this briefing session, Seoul plans to actively discover global companies wishing to enter Seoul by strengthening cooperation with related organizations such as chambers of commerce from various countries, the Korea Exchange, and KOTRA. Earlier in May, Invest Seoul signed a business agreement with the Dubai Chamber of Commerce, and earlier this month, during the 'Bio International Convention 2024' held in San Diego, USA, Invest Seoul co-hosted a conference with the Korea Exchange.

Jung Young-jun, Director of Economic and Job Planning at the Seoul Metropolitan Government, said, "In a situation where competition among cities such as Hong Kong and Singapore is intensifying, attracting competitive global companies is an essential factor for Seoul to leap into the global top 5 economic cities," adding, "We will create a global corporate ecosystem that attracts world-class companies to Seoul, bringing in high-level talent and capital."