Siemens Automotive Korea’s officials visited Gyeonggi Province with Korea’s traditional rice bread as an expression of gratitude for the province’s support. 

“I was deeply impressed with Gyeonggi Province’s efforts to help foreign-invested firms and improve business environment,” said Sun Woo Hyun, president of Siemens Automotive. “That left a great impression, which made me persuade the headquarters to choose South Korea as an investment destination.” 

Siemens Automotive has recently signed a US$200 million memorandum of agreement with Gyeonggi Province on investment. Siemens was considering Shanghai for the investment but later changed the mind and chose Gyeonggi Province instead. 

Siemens faced a problem with an entry road at its factory located in Icheon, which was too narrow for containers to pass through. It could not do anything about it since the road was privately owned. 

It was not until an investment delegation led by Sohn Hak-kyu, governor of Gyeonggi Province, was about to leave for Japan last January that the Siemens quagmire was known 

Sohn ordered an immediate inspection and expansion work on the road due to be completed on Nov. 30. 

Simens Automotive Korea were deeply impressed with the Gyeonggi Province’s help since most of its products bound for East Asian markets had been disrupted by the narrow entry road. 

German-based Siemens Group is a global company exporting products to 190 countries with sales of $7.5 trillion. Siemens Automotive Korea’s sales have more than tripled since it started business here three years ago. 

Siemens’s presence in South Korea is expected to be a great help for Gyeonggi Province as it invested around $200 million on automotive electronic parts in the region. It also plans to expand its R&D investment aimed at transforming the province into a research and manufacturing hub in the East Asian region.