Operational U-turn

South Korea, the bright lights in the lower left-hand corner, is becoming a more attractive base for businesses than China in the upper right.
South Korea, the bright lights in the lower left-hand corner, is becoming a more attractive base for businesses than China in the upper right.

 

Twelve Korean companies that are doing business abroad signed an investment agreement with five local governments in Korea on Sept. 24 to return to their home country. According to the pact, the former will invest 130 billion won (US$124 million) by 2018 to create 900 jobs in the local regions.

The companies are planning to return to Korea, as their productivity has deteriorated due to the rise in labor costs in China as of late, whereas Korea’s export conditions are getting better owing to the KORUS FTA and other free trade deals.

Four of the companies, which are shoemakers, will return to Busan City, and two machinery manufacturers along with one electronic component manufacturer will move back to Sejong City. Machinery, clothing, and textile companies will go back to South Chungcheong Province, while an electronic components maker and a clothing company will return to North Gyeongsang Province and Incheon City, respectively. Four other shoemakers returned to Korea last year.

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, which signed the MOU with these firms, is expecting that the number of such companies will continue to increase down the road across more sectors and regions.

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