According to Yonhap News,

(SEOUL=Yonhap News) The Ministry of Trade, Industry & Energy (MOTIE) announced June 17 that it has designated foreign investment officers for 21 government ministries to encourage more foreign companies to invest in Korea and facilitate communication between the government and foreign-invested companies.

Other ministries include the Ministry of Strategy and Finance, Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning, Ministry of Education, Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Government Administration and Home Affairs, Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, Ministry of Health and Welfare, Ministry of Environment, Ministry of Employment & Labor, Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries, Korea Fair Trade Commission, Financial Services Commission, Korea Communications Commission, Korea Food & Drug Administration, National Tax Service, Korea Customs Service, Small and Medium Business Administration and Korean Intellectual Property Office.

The foreign investment officers will support the handling of investment-related complaints and resolve the grievances of foreign-invested companies.

They will also act as a communication channel by gathering the opinions of foreign-invested companies to enact or amend laws or by participating in meetings with foreign-invested companies to resolve grievances.

The foreign investment officers attended the Foreign Investment Advisory Council last week at the Grand Hyatt Seoul, which was co-hosted by MOTIE and the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA), responded to difficulties raised by the foreign-invested companies and accepted their recommendations.

About 50 people participated in the council meeting, including 13 CEOs of major foreign-invested companies, 10 leaders of foreign chambers of commerce in Korea and the Foreign Investment Ombudsman of KOTRA.

The foreign-invested companies and foreign chambers of commerce were updated on the government’s efforts to tackle the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome. The aim is to prevent a drop in foreign investment due to unnecessary misunderstandings caused by a lack of information on the disease.

MOTIE will open a portal site for foreign investment regulations by the end of July to effectively resolve foreign investment-related grievances.

abullapia@yna.co.kr

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