- Seoul Metropolitan Government to offer subsidies to foreign-invested enterprises that created new jobs in 2012.
- Thirty-six companies have been chosen to receive employment subsidies since 2005.
- Those eligible include foreign-invested companies in new growth engine industries who employed more than 10 employees over the previous year.
- Move aims to help Seoul to become one of the best cities for foreign business and investment.
Seoul Metropolitan Government(SMG) has announced that it will grant employment and educational training subsidies to foreign-invested enterprises that created new jobs in 2012. The grant is aimed at providing incentives to the foreign firms that participate in the city’s foreign investment inducement program or invest in new growth engine industries, and create jobs, thus contributing to the invigoration of the city economy.
The city began providing subsidies to foreign-invested businesses in 2005 and has offered a total of 2,867 million to 36 companies. The two foreign-invested firms that received subsidies last year are Giosis Gmarket, a Singapore-based software development and supply firm, which was given 200 million KRW for creating 58 new jobs in 2011; and Standford Hotel Corp. of the United States, which was paid 75 million KRW for employing 50 new workers in 2011.
Those eligible for employment subsidies are foreign-invested firms in Seoul who hired 10 or more employees in 2012 and is registered as foreign invested firms less than five years ago (or less than five years after the investment date if there has been additional investment), and meet the condition in which more than 30 percent of total investment in the company is by foreigners.
The applicants must also be in the following eight industries designated by SMG as new growth engines: IT conversion, digital content, green industry, business service, fashion & design, finance, tourism & convention, and biomedicine.
The city also provides educational training subsidies to companies which train their new employees at such institutions as the Korea Management Association and the Korea Chamber of Commerce & Industry.
Applications for subsidies are received at the Investment Promotion Division of the city government (Phone: 02-2133-5356) and by (E-mail sky0greend@seoul.go.kr) from 4 March(Mon.) to 29 March(Fri.). Successful applicants will be paid subsidies at the end of May after deliberation by the Foreign Investment Promotion Support Committee.
Director Kim Jeong-ho of the Investment Promotion Division commented, “Foreign-invested enterprises contribute to the invigoration of Seoul’s economy with active business activities, which lead to sustainable growth through the creation of quality jobs. The city government will continue to design programs to support foreign-invested companies to make Seoul one of the best places for foreign business and investment.”