97% of pledged investment to flow outside Greater Seoul area

Park Jeong-seong, chief trade negotiator at South Korea's Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, delivers remarks at the event. [Yonhap]
Park Jeong-seong, chief trade negotiator at South Korea's Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, delivers remarks at the event. [Yonhap]

South Korea's Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy said Invest Korea Summit 2026, the country's largest foreign investment attraction event, opened Wednesday at the Grand InterContinental Seoul Parnas and runs through Friday.

At the 22nd edition of the summit, seven global companies announced a combined $2 billion (2.69 trillion won) in investment pledges — the largest amount ever recorded at the event.

More than 2,000 participants attended, including some 200 visiting investors, foreign-invested companies, diplomatic missions, foreign chambers of commerce and local government representatives.

With uncertainty in the global investment environment running high, the government centered this year's event on two themes: regional development and AI.

The summit's slogan — "M.AX KOREA: Where Next Growth Begins" — highlighted new growth engines and business opportunities across the country, built around a five-hub, three-special-zone growth strategy and an AI transformation of the manufacturing sector, dubbed M.AX.

The event focused particularly on translating domestic industrial and regional growth plans into concrete foreign investment, anchored by three mega-projects in semiconductors, physical AI and AI data centers.

At an investment pledge ceremony on the opening day, seven companies confirmed the $2 billion total, including Britain's Enskale, France's Air Liquide, US-based Amkor Technology and Japan's Tokyo Electron.

Of the total pledged, $1.97 billion — or 97 percent — is earmarked for regions outside the Greater Seoul area, a concentration the government expects to drive more balanced regional development. Investment spans AI infrastructure, advanced manufacturing, clean energy and broader supply chain and future industries.

Research facilities operated by three companies outside the Greater Seoul area — Britain's Edwards, France's Valeo and Japan's Ibiden — were newly designated as foreign-invested R&D centers, making them eligible for incentives including relaxed permanent residency requirements and additional R&D scoring credits.

Regional investment programming was expanded this year. Separate briefings for local governments were held across three industry clusters — semiconductors and AI; biotech and healthcare; and future mobility, logistics and batteries. On the final day of the summit Friday, on-site investor relations sessions will be held across four regions: Gwangju and South Jeolla Province, Busan, Daegu and North Gyeongsang Province, and Gyeonggi Province.

Also on the agenda are a signing ceremony for a memorandum of understanding between KOTRA and the Korea Data Center Council on data center investment cooperation, a briefing on free economic zone investment, and an M.AX Energy Strategy Forum.

"We will write a new chapter in Korea's growth story by combining foreign investment with the AI transformation of manufacturing and the five-hub, three-special-zone growth strategy," said Chief Trade Negotiator Park Jeong-seong. "We will push ahead with building M.AX clusters and RE100 industrial complexes, providing regulatory exemptions and permit support through super-regional special zones, and offering special subsidies."


oskymoon@heraldcorp.com