ΆΓ  Kyongsang-Namdo Plans to Lure W2 Trillion in Investments This Year

Korea Times 2001.1.9

The South Kyongsang provincial government said yesterday that it intends to attract 2.08 trillion won ($1.64 billion) from domestic and overseas investors this year in order to lift the province out of the sluggish economic situation.

The goal includes 780 billion won in investment from foreign firms and 1.3 trillion won from domestic investors, the province said.

To attain this year's investment goal, the province plans to lure $300 million from Japanese firms by fully utilizing a foreign business complex established in the province, while attracting $350 million from European and U.S. companies.

The province expects investments of $200 million from five of the 52 Japanese firms that were chosen as viable investors last year under a joint investment agreement with Japan's Nomura Research Institute.

It also plans to attract an additional $100 million from ten Japanese high-tech parts and basic materials manufacturers and another $100 million from existing investors.

The province will activate contacts with target European and U.S.

investors selected from each industrial sector: automobile parts from Detroit, Michigan; shipbuilding materials from Norway, Britain and the Netherlands; and machinery and metal materials from Dusseldorf and Munich, Germany.

In order to attract domestic investors, the province will hold investment promotion fairs at industrial complexes in the Seoul metropolitan area and large cities.