With the intensifying competition between countries to attract the R&D centers of world-leading businesses, Gyeonggi Province plans to focus on attracting the global R&D centers of multinational businesses that are equipped with advanced technology as well as Fortune 500 companies.

To achieve this, the province will build an R&D Center in the Pangyo Techno Valley to ensure the timely supply of R&D space, and will work with the Ministry of Knowledge Economy to jointly develop diverse incentive programs, including tax reductions and cash grants, by designating a foreign investment zone.

Gyeonggi Province has designated this R&D Center as a hub for foreign investment inducement as the center will create synergies with other R&D clusters in the province, including Gwanggyo and Pangyo Techno Valley, and will have enormous effects in terms of technological development. Working in tandem with central government agencies, the province has strengthened its efforts to attract foreign investors since the second half of 2008.

As a result of these efforts, the province entered into an MOU last March for an investment of USD 20 million with Broadcom, the world’s No. 2 wireless communication service provider, and is now negotiating with Qualcomm, a Fortune 500 company and a supplier of key parts for the semiconductor industry, for the construction of R&D centers.

The Province has been working to reach agreements on the construction of R&D centers with T, a US-based world leader in video security, and B, a German multinational chemical corporation. These investments will be finalized in the second half of 2008.

Gyeonggi Province aims to stimulate the national competitiveness of domestic businesses and develop talented human resources by attracting R&D centers of multinational businesses, while working jointly with provincial R&D clusters and businesses to build an Asian R&D hub.

In 2005, the province launched a center at Kins Tower (Bundang) to attract R&D investment from multinational businesses. Beginning with Axesstel, five companies have joined so far, including Siemens Medical, a medical devices R&D leader. The building now accommodates 252 researchers, who are actively engaged in R&D advancements.