Invest KOREA

Builds open platform connecting foreign investment supply and demand in Industry 4.0 sectors

On July 27, the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA) published a report titled, “Strategies to Attract Investment in Response to the Fourth Industrial Revolution,” in an effort to find future growth engines by attracting foreign investment.

As the world economy continues to slow down with little sign of improvement, the fourth industrial revolution is emerging as a mega solution in bringing fundamental change to global capital and investment. In countries like Germany and China, mid- to long-tern strategies have already been established for research and investment in Industry 4.0 sectors, and are being implemented on an institutional basis.

Such changes brought about by the fourth industrial revolution are also greatly affecting the trade and investment environment of Korea, whose rapid economic growth was based on a high level of foreign dependence. In particular, it has become a matter of urgency to overcome the imbalance between domestic and foreign investments, and actively review existing strategies on foreign investment, a key axis that sustains the globalization and growth of the Korean economy.

Based on the report, for foreign investment to develop in a direction that raises the country’s competitiveness and creates high-quality jobs, Korea needs to build an open platform that enables knowledge sharing, technology transfers, and other forms of cooperation. With global companies based in Korea increasingly moving their production facilities overseas, there is a limit to traditional forms of investment that focus on the supply of parts and materials.

An open platforms facilitate an online ecosystem of voluntary supply and demand, and can lead to the creation of various business models as the number of users grow. For instance, GE built a massive industrial open platform using IoT-based software that connects power-generating turbines, petroleum plants, medical devices and aircraft engines, and by doing so is remaining one step ahead in setting global standards.

To foster a sound ecosystem where multi-national companies voluntarily enter the Korean market and interacts with local businesses through an open platform for attracting foreign investment, KOTRA suggests that the government, businesses and research institutes have to change their method of collaboration in accordance with the fourth industrial revolution and the country’s strategies for future growth.

Kim Yong Kook, head of KOTRA’s investment promotion arm Invest KOREA, noted, “In a new era dominated by environmental factors of uncertainty, KOTRA has built Invest KOREA Market Place,* an open platform aimed to help companies enter global markets and expand networks during the fourth industrial revolution,” adding, “Through focused efforts based on such open platforms, the agency plans to expand its customized support for Korean companies involved in Industry 4.0 sectors and related institutions to find the right foreign investment partners.”

*An open platform that builds a database of startups and SMEs hoping to attract foreign investment, and connects them with potential foreign investors through connections made at KOTRA’s overseas offices.

Source: Invest KOREA (July 28, 2017)