Namwon City Designated as an Opportunity Development Zone for General Industrial Complex

Fostering the Life-Care Industry... Boosting Corporate Investment

Jeonbuk Namwon General Industrial Complex has been additionally designated as a “Opportunity Development Zone” by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE), as part of efforts to attract large-scale corporate investment in the region.

According to the city on July 30, MOTIE has newly designated Opportunity Development Zones in Jeonbuk and Gyeongnam for the first time this year, following three rounds of designations last year. As a result, the Namwon General Industrial Complex (155,062 pyeong) has been designated as an Opportunity Development Zone under MOTIE’s initiative.

The Opportunity Development Zone is a flagship regional zone in the era of local autonomy. It is a “bottom-up” special zone where local governments select industries with comparative advantages, attract companies, and submit development plans. The zone offers a package of benefits, including tax and fiscal support and improvements to living conditions, to attract large-scale corporate investment to the region.

With this designation, the Namwon General Industrial Complex is expected to gain momentum not only in fostering the life-care industry, including bio-related fields, but also in attracting investment from related companies.

In particular, companies establishing startups or new business sites in the general industrial complex zone will receive exceptional benefits, including: a five-year exemption from income and corporate taxes plus a 50% reduction for an additional two years; a 75-100% reduction in acquisition tax; a 75-100% reduction in property tax for five years; an increase in local investment promotion subsidies by 5-10%; and support for professional workforce development programs for tenant companies.

To secure the Opportunity Development Zone designation, the city previously designated the life-care industry?which is one of Jeonbuk Province’s six major innovation growth industries and is closely linked to Namwon’s regional specialization strategy?as its comparative advantage. The city applied to MOTIE for the designation of the Namwon General Industrial Complex, covering an area of 511,706 square meters (155,062 pyeong). In particular, through active efforts to attract companies, the city has signed investment agreements totaling 88 billion won with 10 companies, including Hanmi Yanggyeong.

Based on Mayor Choi Kyungshik’s commitment to attracting businesses during the 8th popularly elected administration, the city has revised related ordinances on corporate and investment attraction to provide its own incentives. These include: raising the subsidy support ratio for domestic companies by 5%; increasing the subsidy support ratio for large-scale investors by 15%; special support for regional specialized industries; increasing logistics cost support for investment companies (from 300 million won to 500 million won); and providing subsidies for relocated employees of companies from outside the region.

With the Namwon General Industrial Complex newly designated as an Opportunity Development Zone, Namwon City will now be able to achieve tangible results by utilizing demonstration testbeds and related industrial complexes based on its strategic industries, such as bio and healthcare companies and research facilities.

In connection with the “Education Development Zone,” the other major special zone in the era of local autonomy, the city is also expected to innovate local education and establish a virtuous cycle in which talent nurtured in the region can find stable employment locally.

Mayor Choi Kyungshik stated, “With this designation as an Opportunity Development Zone, we have secured a new growth engine for fostering regional specialized strategic industries. We expect large-scale investment attraction and balanced regional development within the Namwon General Industrial Complex. Based on this, the city will also link the Education Development Zone and the Regional Innovation-led University Support System (RISE) project to build a virtuous cycle of development led by the local government, including customized talent training for companies and the creation of favorable living conditions.”