<Translated with Google Translate.>
“Please relax the standards for local investment promotion subsidies.”

- National Free Economic Zone Administrators' Council held in Gwangju... Adopted 10 proposals to the government
- Business agreement with the Federation of Medium-Sized Enterprises… Visit to Gwangju Global Motors, Green Car Promotion Agency, etc.

The Gwangju Free Economic Zone Authority (hereinafter referred to as the Gwangju Free Economic Zone Authority) held the ‘29th National Free Economic Zone Administrators’ Council’ at the Kim Dae-jung Convention Center on the 15th, with about 40 people including the heads of nine Free Economic Zones across the country and officials in attendance.

The National Free Economic Zone Administrators' Council has been held on a rotating basis since 2008 to establish a mutual cooperation system among free economic zone offices and to promote smooth business. This is the first time it has been held in Gwangju.

At this Commissioners' Council, in order to strengthen the competitiveness of free economic zones, it was decided to adopt 10 joint questions to the government on system improvement tasks, such as ▲expanding incentives for industrial complexes in economic zones ▲easing local investment promotion subsidy support standards, and recommend them to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.

In addition, the National Free Economic Zone Authority and the Korea Federation of SMEs (hereinafter referred to as ‘SMEs’) signed a mutual business agreement (MOU) to promote investment attraction.

According to this agreement, the two organizations decided to cooperate to revitalize investment attraction in free economic zones, including sharing information on promising companies in key industries, advising and cooperating on technology and policy, and engaging in domestic and foreign investment attraction activities.

Prior to this meeting, the National Free Economic Zone Administrators' Council attended the '2023 International Investment Attraction Forum' held at the Kim Dae-jung Convention Center on the 14th, followed by Gwangju Global Motors, a future automobile production plant, and Gwangju Green Car Promotion Agency, a specialized organization for eco-friendly automobile parts cluster. I looked around my back.

Kim Jin-cheol, head of the Gwangju Free Economic Zone Authority, said in relation to the adoption of a joint statement to the government, “In order to strengthen the competitiveness of free economic zones, improving unreasonable systems must be prioritized,” and added, “Free economic zones serve as a driving force for regional economic growth and further serve as a foundation for improving national competitiveness.” “In order to achieve this, we must actively develop new policies based on the government’s continuous support and cooperation,” he emphasized.

He also said, “Through the agreement with the Korea Federation of SMEs and Startups, we hope that many mid-sized companies (5,480 companies, based on the 2021 Federation of SMEs and Startups settlement) that are driving the Korean economy will develop together with the free economic zone and revitalize the local economy.” <End>

(Gwangju Free Economic Zone Authority, 613-6021)