About 300 diplomats, foreign-invested firms attend 'K-FEZ Day' on Wednesday
The Gwangyang Bay Free Economic Zone Authority took part in "K-FEZ Day 2026" in Seoul on Wednesday, using the event to promote investment opportunities in the Gwangyang Bay area — including Gwangyang, Yeosu, Suncheon and Hadong-gun in South Gyeongsang Province — to domestic and foreign companies and related organizations.
K-FEZ Day is an annual event organized by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy and KOTRA's Invest Korea to showcase the investment appeal of South Korea's free economic zones and lay the groundwork for attracting foreign capital.
The event drew about 300 attendees at the Shilla Hotel in Seoul on Wednesday, including officials from the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy and Invest Korea, free economic zone authority heads from across the country — among them those overseeing the Gwangyang Bay, North Chungcheong Province, South Jeolla Province, Gwangju and Ulsan zones — as well as foreign diplomats accredited to South Korea, chambers of commerce, foreign media, foreign-invested companies and financial sector representatives.
The authority used the event to highlight the area's shifting industrial landscape toward future industries, its global logistics infrastructure anchored by Gwangyang Port's container terminals, and its investment incentive programs.
Gwangyang Bay Free Economic Zone Authority Commissioner Gu Chung-gon said the zone is "expanding its industrial structure into advanced industries such as secondary battery materials, energy, defense and semiconductors and AI, building on its world-class steel and petrochemical base."
The authority attracted 4.9 trillion won ($3.58 billion) in investment last year, the largest haul since the zone was established.
parkds@heraldcorp.com
