Invest KOREA

-KOTRA looked back major accomplishments of 2020 IKW
-321 meetings worth USD 940 mln, preliminary contractual agreement of USD 300 mln due on Dec 31

Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA: CEO and President, Kwon Pyung-Oh)’s annual investment pitch event, Invest KOREA Week 2020 held on Nov 11-18, finally came to an end. Due in part to the spread of the coronavirus, the agency ran an online biz-consulting channel accessible 24/7 by forming a contact-free digital platform where both investors and investees can meet with.

Here’re the summary and short examples of what the attendees of this year’s event achieved.

At the presence of 144 potential investors (59 businesses in materials / parts / equipment industry, along with 33 in new growth industries which include bio- ICT business and 52 in service sectors) and 204 public-private entities who wish to meet with investing companies, an investment pitching and matching session was held during the event. Nearly 321 business meetings took place, reaching as much as USD 940 worth of preliminary investment agreements.

(▶Renewable energy) Setting up a goal to put its name on the list of the world’s top 5 in offshore wind energy capacity, S. Korea has been developing its large-scale offshore wind farm projects near the southeast part of Ulsan city and west coast of North Jeolla Province. A handful of investors interested in funding promising partners developing sustainable energy solutions to work with too part in the event. A Spanish wind power company, called ‘A’, met with local authorities to be involved in the wind farm construction projects. Its partnership deal to make floating offshore wind turbines with expected capacity of 6GW near Ulsan city is currently underway. They’ve already signed an MOU for another wind power project with a Korean counterpart in last July.

(▶Construction materials) Natural disasters increasing in its frequency and intensity in Japan are driving up market demand for supplementary cementitious fiber, part of construction materials designed to reinforce building’s durability. A construction materials supplier in Japan, named ‘B’, interested in investing and forming business networks in Korea joined to find potential business partners who can work together for a USD 3million worth of deal. What made them to invest and work with companies in Korea, they said, was a perfect business environment and infrastructures appropriate to move its manufacturing operation.

(▶Food and beverage) A Canadian food and beverage maker, C, is reported to decide USD 1 million worth of investments in Korea. As customers in Canada are more likely to choose healthy options eating snacks, C has shown a steep growth in sales lately. Looking for proper solutions to gain bigger market presence in Asia, turning this opportunity into a growth momentum, C, took part in this year’s investment pitch event and finally confirmed that they’ll incorporate separate entities in Korea. By expanding investment volume within three years from its initial contract, they’re planning to add 50 more jobs in Korea.

The agency’s CEO said “We’ll make constant effort to provide after care service by running contact-free investment pitching and matching events, which will help businesses and local governments nationwide stand resilient, going through these tough times ahead of us.”

source: KOTRA(2020.11.27)