The Incheon Free Economic Zone, which is seeking to become a Northeast Asian business hub, is leaping toward a truly global city.
With the share of IFEZ's foreign direct investment among all eight free economic zones across the nation reaching as high as 94 percent, IFEZ is emerging as an international city. In addition, international organizations are moving one by one after the relocation of the Green Climate Fund.
Since designation as a free economic zone in 2004, the performance of the IFEZ has been noteworthy. Last year, the balance of its foreign direct investment was US$1,714 million, way over the previously set target amount. This is 9.0 percent of the whole country's FDI volume last year, up 2.5 percentage points from the previous year.
The 13 international organizations that have moved in to the Incheon Free Economic Zone symbolize the global status of the city, such as a World Bank Group office, the Association of World Election Bodies, the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific, as well as the Green Climate Fund.
In addition, the city hosts several foreign universities in its Songdo Global University Campus including the State University of New York, George Mason University, Ghent University, and the University of Utah. The IFEZ has succeeded in attracting a number of companies including Samsung Biologics.
Not just Songdo, other locations within the IFEZ such as Yeongjong and Chungna are also set to leapfrog into development hotbeds. The Yeongjong district held a groundbreaking ceremony in November last year for a casino entertainment complex called "Paradise Sega Sammy." LOCZ Korea, a consortium of the Chinese company Lippo and American company Caesars Entertainment, plans to break the ground for a casino in Yeongjong by June this year.
The Chungna district is also seeking to become an international hub for financial services and tourism. The groundbreaking ceremony for the Hana Finance Town was held in October last year. Hana Financial Group will establish a headquarters building, a training center, and a research institute in the area. A 453-meter landmark tower to be erected in the middle of the district has recently been taken over by the IFEZ after a long dispute over who to be in charge.
