According to Yonhap News,

(SEJONG=Yonhap News) The following is the outline of measures announced Thursday at the national trade and investment promotion meeting that aims to strengthen economic ties with the Middle East and bolster the manufacturing sector.

Create Middle East boom
Support overseas industrial plant construction
-- Increase financial support to help South Korean builders climb the value added chain in the Middle East building sector. Work with multilateral development banks to secure more funding and allocate upward of 5 trillion won (US$4.43 billion) in extra financial support
-- Make full use of the $1.6 billion foreign investment fund created in 2014 to assist companies in making inroads abroad and push up fresh construction orders to $70 billion in 2015 and $80 billion in the following year
-- Create 300 billion won joint project guarantee arrangements for small and midsized builders seeking construction orders

Joint small nuclear reactor development project with Saudi Arabia
-- Capitalize on the memorandum of understanding to develop the System-integrated Modular Advanced Reactors (SMART) with Saudi Arabia that can lead to the sale of at least two units worth some 2 trillion won
-- Expand the partnership so South Korea and Saudi Arabia can export SMART reactors to other Middle East countries

Development of halal food infrastructure to target Muslim market
-- Increase South Korea's halal product exports from $680 million in 2014 to $1.23 billion in 2017 and create a dedicated cluster to better streamline production and maintain guidelines
-- Spend 4.8 billion won in 2015 to modernize halal related food production facilities and diversify exports from tobacco and instant coffee to more agricultural goods
-- Take full advantage of in-country halal food authorization organizations and 120 companies that have received permission to make special food products to expand into large Muslim markets, such as Indonesia and Malaysia

Attract more foreign investment in South Korea's service sector
-- Strive to set up the first foreign-invested service industry region within the year
-- Take advantage of the 3 trillion won service sector assistance fund operated by lenders, such as the Korea Development Bank, to fuel growth of service sector investments
-- Relocate a military base close to land bought by LOCZ Korea -- a joint venture between Las Vegas-based Caesars Entertainment and Indonesian conglomerate Lippo Group -- that plans to open a foreigner-exclusive casino on Yeongjong Island, west of Seoul

Health and medicare related cooperation
-- Expand on previous tie-ups by several hospitals in the Middle East, seek more exports of medicine and equipment
-- Attract more Middle Eastern patients

Create foreign investment region at Saemangeum
-- Scale back restrictions on corporate investment and hiring of foreign workers at the reclaimed land to attract investment from abroad
-- Apply deregulations undertaken at Saemangeum to other free economic zones in places such as Jeju Island

Help young people find work abroad
-- Help create jobs through the operation of nuclear reactors and hospitals in the United Arab Emirates and through expanded ties between South Korea and the Middle East
-- Increase the number of people receiving foreign employment support funds from 1,444 in 2014 to 2,000 this year and 2,500 in 2016

Give residence visas to foreign R&D personnel
-- Expand the issuing of F-5 residence visas to those that invest in the country and hire workers
-- Help local companies hire skilled workers from abroad, offsetting the drop in the country's population

Manufacturing sector reform
-- Generate investment totaling 24 trillion won by 2017
-- Double the country's exports to 1 trillion won by 2024
-- Allocate 5 trillion won in R&D to create a new industry capable of exporting $100 billion worth of goods in 2024
-- Pursue "smart industrial revolution" to set up 10,000 smart factories by 2020 and launch various convergence industries
-- Inject 1 trillion won in R&D into eight key smart manufacturing processes and create a 30 billion won investment fund in 2015

Support growth of safety industry
-- Spend 12.4 trillion won in state and public funds to lay the foundation for the safety industry
-- Streamline the more than 20,000 safety regulations and upgrade local safety rules to conform to international standards
-- Develop cutting edge wearable safety devices for emergency workers at disaster zones
-- Support exports of safety devices and sensors to the Middle East and Southeast Asia

yonngong@yna.co.kr

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