Invest KOREA

Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA: CEO and President, Kwon Pyung-Oh) set out to promote investment in Korea amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, which has pushed the global economy into near crisis. The agency ran a three-day employee development program from Dec 15 as part of capacity building approach.

The annual employee education session conducted so far has put much emphasis on small-scale, separate practices such as project management or on-job training. But this year, in particular, most of the curriculum provided was integrated, improving the quality of learning. The curriculum consisted of a variety of technical and non-technical courses from OJT to learn more on FDI promotion, the current investment trends by industry and by country to investment climate in Korea.

Trainees studied both theoretical and practical solutions on how to attract investment by each industry category; chemical engineering, semiconductor and materials/parts/equipment to transform Korea into an innovation hub of manufacturing. They learned the global investment outlook by country and strategy setting skills mainly targeting the world’s three largest economies- US, EU and China.

The courses were provided online as part of infection-prevention measure to stop the potential spread of COVID-19.

Head of the agency said “The global FDI flows are predicted to shrink by up to 40%. Even in the time of COVID-19- triggered uncertainties, S. Korea’s FDI aggregates (Q1-Q3) this year now stand at USD 12.9 billion, a 4.4% drop on year. How much we could make can be interpreted as a barometer showing national competitiveness, I think. We’ll make sure to train and make our staffs investment specialists through the annual education session.”

source: KOTRA(2020.12.14)