Invest KOREA (IK), Korea's national

investment promotion agency An investment promotion agency (IPA) is most often a government agency (or occasionally a non-profit organization functioning similar to a chamber of commerce or business consulting corporation) whose mission is to attract investment to a country, s ...

, was established as part of the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (

KOTRA KOTRA (Korea Trade Promotion Corporation initially, Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency since 1995) is a state-funded trade and investment promotion organization operated by the Government of South Korea.1997 Asian financial crisis The Asian financial crisis was a period of financial crisis that gripped much of East Asia and Southeast Asia beginning in July 1997 and raised fears of a worldwide economic meltdown due to financial contagion. However, the recovery in 1998–1 ...

as part of the liberalization of the Korean investment regime. In October 1999, the Foreign Investment Ombudsman Office in KOTRA was established to strengthen the function of foreign invested companies' grievance resolution. In December 2003, the Foreign Investment Center was re-launched as Invest KOREA. In May 2018, the function of supporting overseas investment (Outbound FDI) of Korean companies was added to Invest KOREA. In February 2019, the function of supporting the reshoring of Korean companies operating overseas was added to Invest KOREA.

Functions

Invest KOREA provides comprehensive services for all investment stages of Korea, including investment feasibility study, investment execution(establishment of foreign invested company, investment declaration, legal consultation, etc.), and grievance resolution.

Pre-Investment Stage

* Preliminary information study: Search and provide information required for investment feasibility study * Find potential investors and arrange consultations * Consultations on specific sectors: Incentives, legal affairs, accounting, taxation industrial sites, etc.

Investment Execution Stage

* Investment notification: Receive notification of foreign investment (issuance of certificate of foreign investment) * Arrival of investment: Issuance of registration certificate of foreign-invested company * Search for factory site: Look for optimal factory site for investors and provide relevant administrative services * Corporate establishment: Support for corporate registration and licensing and approvals * Visa issuance: D-8, F-3, etc.

Post-Investment Stage

* Foreign Investment Ombudsman: "Home doctors" resolve the grievances of foreign-invested companies * Visa extension: Handle works related to alien registration and extension of stay * Support life in Korea: Search for houses, foreign schools and surrounding living facilities to help employees of foreign-invested companies and their families get settled in Korea Other than the inbound FDI promotion to Korea, Invest KOREA support outbound FDI of Korean companies and reshoring of Korean companies operating overseas through cooperation with overseas offices of KOTRA.

Commissioners

* (1st) Alan Timblick : 2003.12.5. ~ 2005.12.4. * (2nd) Tong-Soo Chung : 2006.2.16. ~ 2010.3.15. * (3rd) Hongchul Ahn : 2010.3.16. ~ 2012.3.15. * (4th) Ki Won Han : 2012.4.1. ~ 2015.12.31. * (5th) Yong-kook Kim : 2016.2.11. ~ 2018.8.31. * (6th) Shawn Chang : 2018.9.1. ~ 2023.1.18. * (Present) Tae Hyung Kim : 2023.1.19. ~

Structure

Based within the KOTRA headquarters in

Seoul Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) as stated iArticle 103 ...

, the commissioner of Invest KOREA is supported by staff members who are KOTRA employees, recruited specialists in investment-related fields, and civil servants dispatched from other agencies and ministries, including the

Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE) is a ministry under the Government of South Korea. It is concerned with regulating some economic policy, especially with regard to the industrial and energy sectors. The ministry also works to e ...

under whose umbrella Invest KOREA falls. Invest KOREA works in collaboration with its network of 36 overseas branch offices of KOTRA, which are located in financial and industrial hubs around the world. Invest KOREA implements government policies on foreign investment that have been formulated by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy and coordinated by the Foreign Investment Committee. Invest KOREA consist of three main departments: the Investment Planning Department, Investment Promotion Department, and Overseas Investment & Reshoring Support Department.

Investment Consulting Center (ICC)

The Investment Consulting Center (ICC) provides tailored consulting services free of charge to foreigners who wish to invest in Korea. The services include pre-investment market research, administrative support, and settlement assistance for establishing businesses in Korea. The center is staffed by consultants; who are private-sector experts including accountants, lawyers and labor lawyers and civil servants with experiences in sectors including visa, tax, customs and environment. At the ICC, investors can receive one-on-one consultations on taxation, accounting, and law in the beginning of an investment, and receive administrative assistance directly from government officials for visa application, certification of investment completion and business registration. The center also provides personalized life settlement consultations and one-day, on-site assistance to help investors settle successfully in Korea. Free consultations are available both for foreign investors and their family members via phone, fax, online, video conference or walk-in during our office hours.

Invest KOREA Plaza (IKP)

Invest KOREA Plaza (IKP) is Korea’s first business incubation center and investment support facility for foreign investors. IKP is located in Seoul, the business hub of Northeast Asia. About 40 foreign-invested companies rent offices at IKP every year to receive one-stop service ranging from administrative support to business consultations. The experts at IKP specialize in a variety of sectors including law, accounting, tax, customs, visa, labor and industrial sites and offer services related to foreign investment consultations, investment notification and grievance resolution. The Plaza also provides offices, business lounges, video conference rooms, shower stalls and sleeping lounge for foreign investors.

Office of the Foreign Investment Ombudsman

The Office of the Foreign Investment Ombudsman (OFIO), which was established in 1999, aims to resolve the grievances of foreign-invested companies operating in Korea. The Foreign Investment Ombudsman is commissioned by the President of the Republic of Korea and the OFIO operates a "Home Doctor" system under which specialists from various fields, such as finance, accounting, law, industrial sites, taxation, law etc., provide foreign-invested companies one-on-one service by investigating and resolving a wide range of grievances in the most efficient and effective manner. The

United Nations Conference on Trade and Development The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) is an intergovernmental organization within the United Nations Secretariat that promotes the interests of developing countries in world trade. It was established in 1964 by the ...

and

Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC ) is an inter-governmental forum for 21 member economy, economies in the Pacific Rim that promotes free trade throughout the Asia-Pacific region.

have acknowledged Korea’s Foreign Investment Ombudsman system as an effective way to prevent investor-state disputes. The OFIO works to prevent problems and improve Korea’s investment environment.

Invest Korea magazine

Invest Korea, formerly known as the KOTRA Express, has been published by KOTRA since 1983. Initially known as the Invest Korea Journal, the periodical, with a subscription-only readership of 8,200, presents perspectives on Korea's investment,

economy An economy is an area of the production, distribution and trade, as well as consumption of goods and services. In general, it is defined as a social domain that emphasize the practices, discourses, and material expressions associated with the ...

industry Industry may refer to: Economics * Industry (economics), a generally categorized branch of economic activity * Industry (manufacturing), a specific branch of economic activity, typically in factories with machinery * The wider industrial sector ...

trade Trade involves the transfer of goods and services from one person or entity to another, often in exchange for money. Economists refer to a system or network that allows trade as a market. An early form of trade, barter, saw the direct excha ...

and

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