KOTRA woos foreign investors at Lam Research Korea

By Park Jae-hyuk

Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA) CEO Kang Gyeong-seong visited Lam Research Korea's head office in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province, Friday, to learn about the recent trend of foreign investment in this country.

His visit to the U.S. semiconductor equipment company's Korean operation was part of the state-run agency's efforts to make Korea one of the world's five largest exporters by listening to the opinions of foreign companies here, which have contributed to Korea's export and employment.

With its research and development and production facilities, Lam Research Korea has provided major chipmakers here with advanced semiconductor equipment. The company is also the employer of over 2,000 workers.

In October, it finished the construction of Y Campus in Yongin to integrate its head office, technology center and training center. Additionally, Lam Research Korea has cooperated with academia to nurture semiconductor experts.

"Korea has competitiveness in the semiconductor and various other industries, and despite the recent domestic and global uncertainties, the semiconductor market will continue its growth, buoyed by the artificial intelligence sector's expansion," Lam Research Korea Regional Vice President Joon Park said.

"To cope with the rapidly changing environment, supportive policies are more necessary than ever before.

In response, the KOTRA CEO promised to remove obstacles to the growth of foreign companies in Korea.

"Despite the challenging domestic and international investment environments, foreign investors having confidence in Korea's growth potential have continued with their planned investments," Kang said.

According to KOTRA, foreign companies in Korea accounted for 20.8 percent of exports and 5.5 percent of employment in 2023, helping the country's industries to take a leap forward with their advanced technologies. Last year, the size of foreign investment in Korea also reached a record high of $34.6 billion.

"The government will enhance incentives for foreign investment [through] temporarily raising the maximum cash subsidies this year to 75 percent of the size of each foreign investment from the previous 50 percent," the KOTRA CEO added.

"We will take the lead in attracting more foreign investment and contributing to economic growth [through] promoting Korea's favorable investment environment and solving problems facing foreign investors."