Invest KOREA

Approximately 200 CEOs of foreign-invested companies in Korea and global companies, as well as central and local government officials gathered at the Dynasty Hall of the Shilla Hotel in Seoul, South Korea as the Global Investment Summit (GIS) 2022 kicked off on July 6.

Yu Jeoung Yeol, President and CEO of the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA) who organized GIS, opened the event with his opening remarks, highlighting the role that KOTRA has played in Korea’s investment environment over the last 60 years since its foundation. He said that the agency “has promoted Korea’s stable and outstanding investment environment to the world, while supporting around 2,000 promising projects yearly to further attract investment, helping global businesses explore opportunities of new innovative growth.”

In following, Dukgeun Ahn, Trade Minister at the Ministry of Trade Industry and Energy delivered his congratulatory speech for the event, recognizing the current global conditions affecting the overall foreign investment environment such as the reorganization of supply chains, ensuing geopolitical risks, and of course, the COVID-19 pandemic. He added, “such challenges and crises will inevitably change our era of globalization in which free trade and investment are the key drivers of global economic growth,” stressing the importance of global economic cooperation.

Furthermore, heads of global companies around the world such as Emerson Electric and Solvay sent congratulatory remarks to reaffirm their cooperation with their Korean partners and to share about their future investment plans in Korea.

Presentations

The forum provided a series of informative presentations on foreign direct investment (FDI) and Korea’s business environment.

Richard Bolwijn, Head of Investment Research at the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development shared his insight on the current global trends and prospects of FDI. Moon Hwy-Chang, Professor Emeritus of Seoul National University, presented on the FDI trends and investment strategies of South Korea.

Jung Jong Yung, Director of Investment Policy at the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. Jeffrey D. Lee, Partner of Han River Partners as well as NLVC, a global venture capital firm based in Silicon Valley, presented on startups and financial investments in the post COVID-19 era.

Finally, Hakan Cervell, CEO of Ericsson-LG, shared about the potential of Korean high-tech companies and investing in the country’s high-tech sector.

Panel Discussion

After the presentations, a panel discussion with all of the presenters was held, moderated by Shawn Chang, Commissioner of Invest KOREA, the national investment promotion agency within KOTRA.

The panel talk featured detailed discussions surrounding the reorganization of global supply chains, and the role of foreign investment as well as its limitations.

Other Events

Apart from the forum, GIS 2022 also provided opportunities for the participants to network with each other and build business connections through the networking session.

In addition, a roundtable was held for foreign companies doing business in Korea and relevant government officials to hold discussions on investment projects and the need for better cooperation going forward.

Furthermore, pre-arranged meetings between global companies and Korean enterprises were held to provide a platform for building future partnerships.