The provincial office attracted another foreign direct investment 
= $20 million in hybrid terminal factory of Axesstel of the U.S. 

– The delegation for attraction of foreign direct investment in the province headed by Governor Sohn Hak-kyu paid a visit to the United States for three days from August 12 to hold meetings with U.S. businesses interested in investment in the province and attend the annual meeting of the UKC (USA-KOREA CONFERENCE). The delegation returned home at 06:00 on August 14. 

– The delegation finalized the deal with Axesstel of the U.S. for establishment of another $20-million CDMA hybrid terminal factory on the 10,000-pyeong (33,000 m²) lot in the Jangan Industrial Complex-1, Hwaseong, Gyeonggi Province at a meeting held at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Irvine, California on August 12 (local time). Last March, the provincial office signed an MOU for investment of $40 million in an R&D facility in the Bundang Venture Town in Seongnam with the same company. 

The delegation also had a meeting with an electronic/optical system firm. Thus, the provincial office has been engaged in a total of $1,215 million worth of investment discussions with 33 businesses in the U.S. and Canada on three occasions (i.e. March, June, and August) this year. 

– Based in San Diego, Axesstel manufactures and exports fixed wireless terminals to the third world, posting $11 million of sales in 2003 and $62 million in 2004. It has great potential for growth, targeting China and India, which see a sharp increase in demand for wireless telecom devices due to limitations in establishment of wired telecom networks in connection with the huge land size. The company is expected to contribute to generation of jobs for skilled manpower and invigoration of the local economy. 

– For two years from July 2002, when Mr. Sohn Hak-kyu was sworn in as the Governor, the provincial office has attracted a total of $13.2 billion worth of investments from 81 foreign businesses, with the focus on hi-tech businesses, such as LCD, automotive parts, IT, NT, and R&D, showing 67.2% in the rate of fulfilling MOUs signed and generating about 63,000 jobs. 

– It appears that such a remarkable performance in attracting foreign direct investment is largely attributable to the innovative measures taken by the provincial office, including reduction of time taken for designation of an industrial complex from two years to six months. As well, many foreign direct investments thus attracted show a high effect of technological transfer and feature being hi-tech businesses having a considerable impact on the local econonomy. 

– While visiting the United States to attract investments, Governor Sohn Hak-kyu attended the UKC (USA-Korea Conference), an annual academic meeting of Korean-American scientists, held at University of California, Irvine, along with Professor Hwang Woo-suk, Special Presidential Advisor on Science and Technology Park Ki-young, and National Assembly member Suh Sang-gi (GNP). Speaking as a guest speaker, he said that innovation in science and technology is the key to Korea’s survival and necessary condition for realizing the $30,000 target in GNI. 

– Mr. Sohn Hak-kyu stressed that the nation must occupy the “huge blue ocean” of IT/NT/BT ahead of other competing countries, keeping in mind that the time-old catch-up strategy of copying advanced nation’s technologies cannot be an efficient one in the era of endless competitions in high-end science and technologies. 

– He said that there was a need to push ahead with globalization and the further opening up of industries, intensive investment in R&D in high-end technologies, and training talented scientists through positive attraction of world-class multinationals, formation of globalized clusters, and securing international competitiveness in core technologies in parts and relevant materials. 

– He also pointed to the fact that his provincial office has succeeded in attracting big-name high-end technology businesses, such as Hoya (that became the first business to produce the 7th-generation photo masks), 3M (that holds first-rate high luminescence technology), and ULVAC (that holds first-rate vacuum technology) out of a desire to have them exert ripple effect over domestic businesses.