Invest KOREA

According to Pulse by Maeil Business News Korea,

The Seoul government has launched an international IR tour starting with Germany to realign the supply chain for Korean IT and other mainstay industries and wean off reliance on Japanese goods for its industrial activity.

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy said that it sponsors a two-day investor relations session in Frankfurt, Germany, from Thursday, local time, along with Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency and Korea Core Industrial Technology Investment Association.

The move comes as part of government efforts to counter Japan’s latest export curbs by providing active support to localize key industrial items to secure stability in the supply of materials, component, and equipment, and to lay the ground for more merger and acquisitions with foreign companies and their investment into Korea for items that are difficult to localize in the short term.

The government chose Germany, a global powerhouse in the field of materials, component, and equipment, with competitiveness ahead of Japan as its first destination. Germany accounts for 9.3 percent of world’s materials, component, and equipment market as of 2017, which is more than that of Japan with 5.8 percent.

The government will hold investor relations session and one-on-one meetings with companies that show interest in investing in Korea in Frankfurt, where many global players in semiconductor, display, chemical materials, and future vehicle sectors are already present to attend the Frankfurt Motor Show ending on September 22.

Invites went to Merck, a leading supplier of photoresist and light emitting diode chip structuring; Heraeus, a supplier of chip wires and liquid display materials; Siltronic, a supplier of semiconductor wafers; BASF and Lanxess, suppliers of functional plastic in chemical materials sector; and Belgium’s Solvay, a manufacturer of functional plastic and chemical additives.

The government is also expected to meet with automobile companies like BMW and Daimler and auto component player Brose to discuss investment expansion plan.

On Thursday, the industry ministry arranged round table meeting to pitch for German investment in Korea in the high value-added materials, component, and equipment sector. It will also present potential investment fields between the two countries.

The government will take the roadshow to the United States in November and United Kingdom in the first half of next year to attract investment in materials, component, and equipment industry.

In Korea, Gyeonggi Province will hold a separate session and invite European Union companies in October, while North Chungcheong Province, U.S. materials, component, and equipment firms from Silicon Valley in November.

On October 23, global chemical materials firms BASF, Dow Chemical, and Arkema will also hold a Global Alliance Project Series (GAPS) event, which is aimed at supporting shared investment with local companies, establishing joint ventures, and promoting joint research and development activities. ​



By Lim Sung-hyun and Lee Eun-joo

Copyrights Pulse by Maeil Business News Korea. All Rights Reserved.

Source: Pulse by Maeil Business News Korea (September 19, 2019)