KOTRA Teams Up with Local Governments and FEZs for Balanced Regional Investment Attraction

Briefing on Regional Growth Engines and Industry-Specific Investment Attraction
Strengthening Cooperation Among 31 Institutions Nationwide
"Five Mega-Regions and Three Special Zones":
Discussion on Target Sectors and Strategies for Investment Attraction in Each Mega-Region and Special Zone

The Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA) announced on January 15 that it held the "2026 Industry-Specific Investment Attraction Strategy Briefing" at its headquarters on January 14, inviting local governments and Free Economic Zone (FEZ) authorities.

On January 14, Kim Taehyung, CEO of Invest Korea, delivered a greeting at the "2026 Industry-Specific Investment Attraction Strategy Briefing" held at the KOTRA headquarters in Seocho-gu, Seoul. KOTRA

The briefing was attended by officials responsible for investment attraction from 31 local governments and FEZs, as well as Invest Korea, KOTRA's dedicated investment promotion organization. Participants shared outlooks and strategies for investment attraction in the new year, discussed industry-specific strategies to serve as regional growth engines, and consulted on ways to attract investment that contributes to balanced regional development.

Last year, despite growing global uncertainties, reported foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows reached a record high of 36.05 billion dollars (approximately 53 trillion won), up 4.3% year-on-year. However, there are concerns that the investment environment this year will become even more challenging due to the rise of protectionism in major countries and the spread of manufacturing-focused industrial policies. Cooperation among relevant institutions is expected to become increasingly important not only to expand the overall scale of investment attraction but also to promote investment that benefits regional economies.

Accordingly, since last year, the Korean government has been emphasizing the attraction of foreign investment that contributes to the transformation of regional growth systems. In December of last year, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, together with KOTRA, the Korea Industrial Complex Corporation, 13 metropolitan cities and provinces, and 5 FEZs, held the "Central-Local Government Foreign Investment Policy Council" to discuss region-centered foreign investment attraction policies.

KOTRA also announced plans to contribute to regional growth through industry-region linked investment attraction based on the government's "Five Mega-Regions and Three Special Zones" balanced growth strategy, which aims to restructure the nation into five major mega-regions (including the Seoul Metropolitan Area, Southeast Region, Daegu-Gyeongbuk Region, Central Region, and Honam Region) and three special self-governing provinces (Jeju, Gangwon, and Jeonbuk), thereby addressing the concentration in the capital area. In line with this, KOTRA will strengthen the investment attraction roles of its 12 regional support headquarters and enhance cooperation with local governments, FEZs, and regional industrial complexes.

At the briefing, Invest Korea’s industry-specific investment promotion project managers presented key issues and strategies for attracting investment in ten leading industries, including ICT, semiconductors, future mobility, energy, logistics, and robotics. The Trade Security Management Institute and the Korea Data Center Association also delivered lectures on investment attraction strategies in the era of economic security and AI infrastructure attraction strategies, respectively. Consultations between industry-specific project managers and local government investment officials continued, discussing investment attraction targets for each of the five mega-regions and three special zones, preferred industries for mega-special zones, and strategies for investment cooperation.

Kim Taehyung, CEO of Invest Korea, stated, "For investment attraction that contributes to regional economies, it is essential for the government, local governments, and industries to work closely together," adding, "We will further strengthen cooperation in business and information with local governments, FEZs, and others to expand industry-region linked investment attraction that reflects the unique characteristics of each of the five mega-regions and three special zones."