The Incheon Free Economic Zone (hereinafter IFEZ) is emerging as a global city by recently consecutively attracting the GCF (Green Climate Fund) secretariat and the World Bank Group Korea Office. Consequently, IFEZ is attracting strong attention globally as one of the most popular bases for investment.

The IFEZ was designated in 2003 by the Korean government as a strategic region for the first time in South Korea, as part of the government-led ‘Northeast Asia Economic Centralization Strategy.’

Covering a total of 169km2, twice the size of Manhattan in the United States and 70 times the size of Yeouido in Seoul, IFEZ is largely comprised of three areas of Songdo, Yeongjeong, and Cheongna. Aiming to be completely built by the year 2020, IFEZ is now in the last year of its targeted second-stage development process in its three phases of the whole development plan.

IFEZ has conspicuously differentiated five competitive edges over other FEZs in the world. First, IFEZ has a superior geographical advantage in the Northeast economic zone. It is located within three hours by air from 61 international cities with populations of over one million, and so it can swiftly respond to the needs of the China market, the most dynamic in the world. Second, IFEZ has perfect logistics infrastructures: the world’s No. 1 airport service; aviation network through the world’s No. 2 Incheon International Airport; and maritime network through Incheon harbor with advanced intelligent buildings. Third, IFEZ can indeed maximize the use of highly educated manpower in high-tech industries including IT, BT and NT due to its close proximity to the Seoul metropolitan area of Korea. Fourth, IFEZ’s various incentives including tax breaks create an environment in which the companies based in the FEZ can devote themselves to generating greater business performance. Fifth, IFEZ has global top-level foreigner-friendly settlement conditions including international schools.

With the attracted GCF, called “the World Bank of the environment sector,” IFEZ devotes itself to conducting plans that support developing countries’ efforts toward reducing greenhouse gas and adapting to climate change. The GCF could play a key role in assisting such efforts by developing nations by expanding the support scope from the existing comparatively small amount of certain areas. And the World Bank Group Korea Office is also expected to conduct a central role in the cooperative businesses related to the investment support for developing countries in the world.

Up to now, a total of 13 international organizations including GCF, WB, A-WEB (Association of World Election Bodies), UNESCAP are located in the IFEZ and such kinds of international agencies’ rush into IFEZ would be accelerated in the near future when in consideration of IFEZ’s dynamic visions.

IFEZ is an optimal FEZ for realizing the current administration’s so-called Creative Economy. IFEZ has superior global accessibility and a hinterland market so it can more easily reap the growth fruits of the world’s largest consumption market of China not only than of FEZs in Korea, but FEZs abroad as well.

By injecting a whopping amount of KRW 76 trillion, the first-stage of major infrastructure construction such as for roads, airport, were now completed and development plan and investment attraction for three composite resorts are already processed. The remaining development of IFEZ is expected to be fully finished within a shorter period with lower expenses from the initially scheduled costs. Supplying of global standard settlement environment, including creating a hub for global education and research, providing five cultural streets for affluent cultural life, is also of strong point in its assistance of the policy realization of the nation’s Creative Economy.

As a strategic approach for “Big-Push” for the Koran economy, IFEZA decided to aggressively take its specially shared role of positioning itself as advance base for global service industries in consideration of other local FFZs’ certain competitive edges as each regional growth base based on each of their differentiated regional-based advanced industries.

IFEZ would further be transformed into a base to be used for regulation renovation in such areas of location, labor, environment, and metropolitan area toward global standard in preparation of the expansion of global market opening.

IFEZA, in particular, adopted a negative way of regulatory system in order to aggressively position itself as “First Mover” in an era of the creative economy from the previous style of “First Follower” in the manufacturing era.

IFEZA has plans to transform IFEZ into the so-called “FEEZ (Free Economic Experimental Zone)” in which good quality of workplaces can be continuously created through inducing and creating the so-called “big bang” in the service industry.

The introduced test-bed concept of regulation-free experimental area for raising a base city in an era of creative economy further aims to be extensively applied into all areas of the IFEZ. With the negative way of regulatory system, the entry of various scopes of service industries would be thus allowed.

Lee Jong-cheol, commissioner of the IFEZ, explained IFEZ’s vision by saying that they truly hope and will make IFEZ the global third-largest business center by consistently attracting such high value-added industries as education, medical, distribution, tourism, leisure.

 
 
 
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