| Saemangeum High-tech Industrial Zone (Courtesy of Saemangeum Gunsan Free Economic Zone Authority) |
The reclaimed Saemangeum area - once an estuarine tidal flat on South Korea’s Yellow Sea coast in Jeolla province - is likely to draw the attention from the international community, not for destroying the environment, but for the efforts to pursue the sustainable development and conservation at the same time.
The 33km-long seawall, linking Gunsan City and Buan County, both in North Jeolla Province, is the world’s longest and more than 48 times the size of Seoul’s Yeouido, a business and residential district.
The Saemangeum land reclamation plan, which kicked off in 1991, stirred controversy from get-go, as environmental groups claimed that the work would destroy the country’s most crucial wetlands area for shore birds and waterfowl, and wipe out a rich fi shery resource.
Of late, the Saemangeum development project is gaining strong momentum as S Korean President Lee Myung-bak promised to transform the region into a global economic free zone with green initiatives.
Saemangeum Gunsan Free Economic Zone (SGFEZ) Authority plans to build up the base to be the economic hub in Northeast Asia, by promoting 4 major projects for education, health care, Northeast Asia development bank, and international mercantile exchange.
“The most distinctive feature of Saemangeum project is that the zone pursue the environment-friendly development by looking for a way to balance economic growth with conservation and that the authority has a goal of creating the economic hub in Northeast Asia with less regulation in the region,” the governor highlighted.
To do so, the authority has a plan to level up the degree of cohesion and integration between a variety of zones for industry, tourism, international maritime tourism and residence by meeting with the standards set by the government. The governor stressed the key to success is the investment attraction home and abroad, saying that the provincial authority is prepared with master plan to draw investment for boosting up the level of development in Saemangeum.
“Without the master plan for attraction, no investor would even think about putting a single won into the area. So, the provincial authority decided to design a variety of schemes which allure local and foreign entrepreneurs with appealing incentives and business environments,” he said. From the same point of view, the elaborate structure for social overhead capital is also needed to improve its competitiveness in the global logistics field.
Neither local nor international company would open up the office in the area if the economic zone has insecurity on distribution and transportation, the governor Kim added.
What are especially distinctive from other existing economic zones in Korean peninsula are its efforts to bring the green elements into the project. In fact, the authority put green technology business as target industry and the zone is fi rst trying to appeal with distinctive incentives to researching institutes working on development of renewable energy and high-tech industrial parts.
The tenants will be under the cheap lease for industrial site with efficient process for administration. In order to do so, a variety of investment exhibitions are held for lease contracts of industrial sites.
“I expect a lot of inquiries coming from the companies related to renewable energy and equipment because we are going to start accepting the application to lease the site and construct industrial complexes to produce the wind power and fuel battery in collaboration with neighboring industrial parks in the region,” the governor said.
Currently, the Saemangeum offers companies moving from other cities with incentives called relocation subsidy, which gives cash incentives mounting to 5 percent of the total investment per corporation. In case of massive investment, the company will be qualified to get 10 billion won at maximum within 5 percent out of total investment.
Additionally, the employees of companies wanting to move to SGFEZ would receive the settlement subsidy with 100,000 won per month for 3 years up to 3.6 million won. The company will also get the financial support worth up to 500 million won when it hires more than 20 locals.
The reclaimed area are not bound by any private ownership and pertinent regulations, backing the SGFEZ’s position that its leasing process is simpler and faster than those of other similar ventures in the country.
It has also established online one-stop service portals and call centers in various parts of Saemangeum to facilitate administrative procedures for potential domestic and foreign investors.
As part of its efforts to draw international attention, the provincial government and the national supporting committee for Saemangeum project co-hosted the international forum of ‘Green Growth Saemangeum 2009’ in Seoul on November 5.
In the conference, many world famous celebrities, including Wim Kok, the former Prime Minister of the Netherlands, Mohan Munasinghe, the laureate of the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize, Klaus Toepfer, the former United
Nations Undersecretary explored various issues about Saemangeum’s economic growth strategy and investment attraction strategy through the in-depth discussion.
“Once we get an approval for development plans from the government, the specific schemes to create the industrial sites are going to be implemented,” the governor stressed.
“Genuine investors with intention will only start considering investment with the specifi c plan in their hands.”
Along with a tide embankment scheduled to be completed by the end of this year, the project for Saemangeum will be expedited next year, he added.
Governor Kim said that the free economic zone development will likely generate 28.5 trillion won of production, or 190,000 jobs. With various incentives in taxation and other areas, he expected that foreign firms will actively invest in the new economic zone.
By Shin, Kirim
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