Celebrating the third anniversary in 2011, the SGFEZ Authority unveiled its major accomplishments
The Saemangeum Gunsan Free Economic Zone Authority (SGFEZ commissioner Lee Myeong-no) commemorated its third anniversary on August 28, 2011. Its major accomplishments during the past three years include the following:
Firstly, from a development project aspect, it kicked off construction of the Saemangeum Industrial Complex and Tourism Zone, setting the foundation for further development in the region.
To build the industrial complex into a world-class town of low-carbon green growth, it has refined all relevant plans, reclaiming the land and carrying out site renovation work. In addition, it has strengthened the competitiveness of the complex by lowering the transfer price of the right to public water surface reclamation from 52,231 won to 33.554 won per square meter. The costs saved run to 105.7 billion won.
At the same time, it embarked on the reclamation of the Gateway zone in order to set the foundation of the tourism complex which will be Northeast Asia’s finest all-in-one resort for family tourists. The process is scheduled to be completed in November this year. The site plan was modified to better meet the purpose of the blueprint, through which approximately 119.5 billion won in construction costs were saved. Furthermore, the authority had discussions with concerned government agencies and changed the soil to be used for reclamation from that in the offing to the dredging sand within the boundary of the breakwaters. In doing so, the authority saved 3.7 billion won in costs and shortened the construction period by three months.
For the Gogunsan Islands Zone, a phased development plan starting from Sinsi Island was adopted for more efficient investment. The projects to be led by the public sector there have been finalized, and the building of the Gogunsan Islands Access Road is underway in order to increase accessibility to the area. In the meantime, the Gogunsan Marina Develo-pment Plan will be included in the national master plan for resort-type marina development. Currently, the marina project constitutes 2 of 43 national top priority development projects.
Secondly, concerning investment attraction, it has partnered with leading enterprises to form industrial clusters, e.g., those of new and renewable energy, shipbuilding and maritime business, and auto parts, etc. Down the road, they will lead the green growth efforts of the industrial complex. Furthermore, the authority has striven to bring in investments from China in order to establish a special economic zone for Chinese companies.
It has revised ordinances related to investment attraction, offering more and better incentives to prospective clients and establishing an all-out plan that covers specific strategies and long-term road-maps. It has also strengthened its cooperation and shared investment information with supporting agencies, while working on a system to boost the expertise and professionalism of those officials in charge of drawing foreign investment.
As a result, OCI, a top-notch photovoltaic company, is planning to commit 10 trillion won to the industrial estate, the largest sum ever in the provincial history of investment. This will help the area become a hub of solar power generation and a linchpin of green growth.
Meanwhile, the SGFEZ Authority designated the industrial complex a general bonded area, in which tariffs are exempted permanently, in order to attract more Chinese capital. Its friendship agreement with Tianjin Binhai New Area will also turn the zone into a forward base in terms of trade with China.
Concerning the industrial complex, the second-phase reclamation works for Zone 1 will be wrapped up in December 2012, while those for Zone 2 will finish in December 2013. From the second half of this year, presales will be in progress for sites fully reclaimed first. Following this, alternative energy developers, shipbuilders and auto parts manufacturers will be housed one after another in Zones 1 and 2, forming industrial clusters. This will be the first step of the SGFEZ becoming a low-carbon green growth town and the home of green technology and future industry.