To boost Korea's investments, it was suggested that the country should put more emphasis on attracting more foreign investors. One suggestion stated that Korea should provide more cash support and drastically expand incentives. In hopes of achieving this, Invest Korea published a report known as, "Attracting Major Overseas Countries Investors and Korea's Current Investment Situation." This report pinpoints 15 different countries as the major targets. These major countries include the United States, Canada, Germany, France, England, Russia, Japan, Singapore, China, Taiwan, Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia, India and Brazil. Currently, Korea is a targeted country to invest in due to it's development in many different areas including IT and electronics. Through analysis of this report, Invest Korea wants to take advantage of these opportunities and help Korea maximize their fullest potential in the global market.
Meanwhile, other countries like China, India, Vietnam and Malaysia are interested in Korea's cutting edge technology and IT area. Investments in this area is appealing due to tax exemptions in certain exclusive industrial zones.
However, it was analyzed that Singapore is the better country to invest in as of right now. Singapore provides diverse tax breaks and drastic cash support with lots of flexibility to their investors. They can provide financial support of up to 30-50 percent of expenses related to the R&D area including salaries, air freight, system fees, work force expenses, facility management, equipment and specialized services. They are also able to provide 5-10 percent tax reductions until 2020. These are areas that foreign investors find very attractive. Through all these foreign investments, Singapore is able to provide a boost in their country's development as well as the country's economy.
The published report talks about how Korea's cash support is currently quite low compared to other developed countries. Korea first introduced and implemented the cash support in 2004, but the requirements are quite intricate and circumstancial. This is a negative aspect to foreign investors that are willing to invest but are lacking certain funds.
Ahn Hong Chul, head of Invest Korea, believes the system needs to become more efficient and cover more financial aspects. Also, the incentive support system must be improved. "Through this project, we will reinforce the system to provide more attractive investments as well as actively participating in the cash support system to provide Korea with more bargaining power."