Cheong Wa Dae said: “The company has invested some US$700 million in Korea since 2000. Cisco’s investment is to expand its business in Northeast Asia.”
Chambers refrained from providing specifics on how the money would be spent, but he did say: “Two billion was our first step, if it proves successful more is likely to follow.”
Previous investment plans by Cisco - the world's largest maker of computer networking equipment - in South Korea and other countries have generally ended up larger than anticipated.
Chambers met President Lee Myung-bak on Tuesday. He said at the meeting in Cheong Wa Dae: “According to my company’s plan, US$2 billion will be spent over five years in building a research center in Korea.” He outlined other specifics, especially that the US$500 million will be spent in investment and loans for South Korean IT and communications venture companies.
He discussed various topics with President Lee, showing his interest in green growth which is a Korean national project, and environmentally-friendly urban facilities.
Also, he made a promise to support these plans as a key player. He added that he thought Korea’s goal was suitable for future sustainable growth. He also said that Korea is going in the right direction.
The reason why the chairman chose Korea as an investment target is that Korea has outstanding infrastructure and a high class work force in the IT industry. Moreover, Korea’s green growth strategy is unsurpassed. These factors could make Korea a global leader.
Cisco’s huge investment in Korea is good news for the Korean government. The government plans to build a regional financial and business center in Korea, so Korea wants to attract investors, but many companies are still struggling against the global recession. That’s why President Lee thanked Chambers for his decision in this difficult time. His choice may encourage other firms to invest in Korea.
Cisco has already chosen Songdo, Incheon, to invest about US$1 billion to build its Asia-Pacific research headquarters. The company has agreed to help develop the Incheon Free Economic Zone (IFEZ). The IFEZ is an area of reclaimed land three times larger than Manhattan. Cisco will construct the U-City Global Center in Songdo, to explore new business fields for the company.
According to Incheon Mayor Ahn Sang-soo, the IFEZ will become a home to the Northeast Asian headquarters of more than 300 foreign companies, 30 international organizations and will host the extended campuses of 15 foreign universities by 2014.
”Harmonized with cultural attractions and a clean environment, the free economic zone is expected to draw 20 million foreign tourists per year, making it one of the world's top 10 cities by 2020,“ Ahn said in a recent interview with The Korea Times.
Cisco is based San Jose, California, and was founded in 1984. It makes routers and switches that companies use to send data over the Internet and internal networks.
It has recently been expanding aggressively into other areas, including servers, and has acquired Pure Digital Technologies Inc., which makes the popular Flip camcorders.
