Invest KOREA

GE to establish Global R&D Center in Pangyo, Gyeonggi Province

Gyeonggi Governor Kim Moon-soo visited the GE headquarters in Connecticut and signed an investment MOU worth USD 30 million with GE President on April 19th.

Gyeonggi Investment Promotion Team signed a USD30 million investment MOU with GE, a leading global company.

The Investment Promotion Team led by Gyeonggi Governor Kim Moon-soo visited the GE headquarters in Connecticut, the U.S., and concluded an MOU establishing the Global R&D Center for the green industry including energy software, smart grid, and smart home appliances at 11 a.m. on April 19th (local time).

Under the MOU, GE will occupy Pangyo R&D Center building, which has six stories above and two stories below ground with the total floor area of 46,110㎡ and will be completed next March, and set up Global R&D Center by injecting USD 30 million for five years.

Gyeonggi Province expects that GE R&D Center will significantly contribute to export growth, since it focuses on product development and localization which leads to additional production and export.

Also, components worth USD 10 million will be purchased in the Korean market annually starting from the second half of next year, boosting the regional economy.

Governor Kim said in his speech “new demand is expected to be created in the global market as well as in Korea, when Korea’s advanced information technologies, infrastructure, and human resources are combined with GE’s global-level technologies in conducting R&D activities at the Center.”

Company A, a manufacturer of industrial gas, promised Gyeonggi Investment Promotion Team to make an investment of USD 100 million at its headquarters at 9 a.m. on the same day.

The company plans to complete a factory for ultra pure nitrogen gas, an essential subsidiary material in manufacturing semiconductors, LCDs, and LEDs, on the area of 29,515㎡ in Nongseo-dong, Giheung-gu, Yongin City.

The factory site for the company is about 800m away from Samsung Electronics, its customer, so it will supply nitrogen gas through underground pipes.

Gyeonggi Province said the agreement will vitalize the regional economy by creating 16 jobs directly and 2,268 jobs indirectly by 2015 and contribute to the stable supply of ultra pure nitrogen gas.

Source: Yonhap News (April 20, 2011)