SOUTH Korea is rolling out the red carpet for foreign investors under government reforms introduced this year.
The Reform Plans for Improvements in the Foreign Investment Environment, implemented to lure overseas entrepreneurs, came in response to President Kim Young-sam's call to make Korea 'one of the best countries for investment'.
His intention is to nurture an image of Korea as a rapidly progressing, liberalising and internationalising nation amid the New World Order of the global economy.
'The thrust of the government's policy on foreign direct investment is to create a business environment conducive to free and fair competition with domestic companies,' said the Ministry of Finance and Economy.
Foreign investment has slumped in recent years due to rising wages, labour disputes and other factors pushing up production costs.
The government is anxious to reverse the trend. The 'bait' is promise of some of the highest investment returns in the world based on Korea's strategic location in the heart of East Asia with close links to Japan, China and the Russian Far East.
