– Including ThyssenKrupp of Germany 

On July 5, The Gyeonggi Provincial Office’s Corps for Attraction of Foreign Businesses’ Investment headed by Governor Sohn Hak-gyu spent the first day of its visit to Europe successfully, concluding a total of $3.1 million worth of investment negotiations with two businesses, including ThyssenKrupp in Dusseldorf, Germany aimed at attraction of hi-tech European businesses’ investment in the province. The Corps is visiting Europe to attract European hi-tech businesses’ investment in the province in an effort to create good-quality jobs and learn from their advanced technologies and management skills. 

ThyssenKrupp is the No.1 manufacturer in Germany and one of the Top Three manufacturers in the world in special steel and its applications, employing 190,000-plus employees in more than 70 countries in the world. It posts 5.2 trillion won in annual sales in steel, elevator, automotive parts and related service. 

It is reported that the production facility to be built in the Poseung Industrial Complex under the contract signed will supply lead frames to Korean semiconductor businesses, thus going a long way in harvesting great import substitution effect for the item, 90% of which is currently imported from Japan and Europe. 

As well, a European business known only as “A” is considering making hundreds of millions of dollars worth of investment in building an LCD parts production facility on a site of tens of thousands of square meters. It is expected that, if the business makes a finally affirmative decision on the plan, it will contribute greatly to formation of an LCD cluster in the province as well as to creation of jobs. 

An official at the Gyeonggi Provincial Office said, “Addition of the business known only as ‘A’ to the list of those interested in making investment in the province will be a great leap for our strategy to attract LCD part businesses, following a similar decision made by the factory of LG Philips, and it will brighten the future of the province as the mecca of the world’s LCD industry.” 

The Gyeonggi Provincial Office has succeeded in attracting ten big-name LCD parts manufacturers, including Japanese such as Nitto Denko and Hoya, since the second half of 2003. The German business’s affirmative decision on the plan to build a factory in the province is expected to set the precedent for other European businesses in the same field.