invest Seoul

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The Seoul Metropolitan Government on Monday announced that the city would provide subsidies of up to 200 million won ($150,000) per firm to foreign-invested enterprises -- legal structures in which overseas-based companies can participate in the economy here -- in growth industries and that hire six or more new employees.

Under the subsidy plan, the new employees must be Korean nationals, and retained until 2026.

To be eligible, enterprises must have invested in one of the city’s eight new growth engine sectors: converged information; digital content; green industry; business services; fashion and design; finance; meeting, incentives, convention and exhibition (MICE) industries; or biomedical industries.

Enterprises applying must also have a foreign direct investment ratio of 30 percent or more and must have hired new employees or conducted employee training within five years of the date of that investment. The city will prioritize startups within seven years of their establishment, according to the officials.

The proposal is part of the city’s efforts to create jobs and revitalize the economy.

“The city plans to provide subsidies to foreign-invested enterprises in growth industries so that they can actively invest in the country and recruit new employees," said Kim Yoon-ha, head of the Seoul Metropolitan Government’s Financial Investment Department.

"We will continue to develop incentives to encourage foreign-invested enterprises to create quality jobs in Seoul and take the lead in revitalizing Seoul’s economy.”



jenn@heraldcorp.com