Chungcheongnam-do

Chungnam Succeeds in Attracting 1.2 Billion-dollar Project, the Largest in the Korea This Year So Far

A Joint Venture between Japanese Cosmo Oil and Hyundai Oil Bank
Chungnam successfully attracted the largest amount of foreign capital this year.
On June 9, Provincial Governor Lee Wan-gu signed an investment agreement in Tokyo, Japan with Mr. Kimura Yaichi, head of Cosmo Oil, Mr. Suh Yeong-tae, head of Hyundai Oil Bank, and Mr. Yu Sang-gon, mayor of Seosan City.
Cosmo Oil and Hyundai Oil Bank said they would together invest about 1.5 trillion won (1.2 billion dollars) into building a petrochemical product plant in the Daesan Petrochemical Complex in Seosan City.
The two companies will set up a joint venture this year, build a plant on the approximately one million square meter lot, and hire 6,000 in the early stage. Once completed, the plant will generate an annual 500 billion
won in sales and hire 500 employees.

Cosmo Oil is Japan's second largest oil refining company (chairman, Okabe Keiichiro) born after the merger between Maruzen established in 1931 and Daikyo established in 1939. The project is very meaningful in that it's Cosmo Oil's biggest overseas investment project (it has three overseas corporations; the one in the U. S. has 3.55 million dollars in capital, the one in the U. K. 5 million, and the one in Singapore 13 million) and its first investment project in Korea.
At the press conference, Mr. Lee said that “Cosmo Oil's large-scale investment into Chungnam will make a huge contribution to the vitalization of the Korean economy as well as Chungnam economy while the world economy is in recession and foreign investments have gone downhill. It also proves that Chungnam has become a promising area for international investments. I promise Cosmo Oil the best administrative and financial services for its successful business in Korea.”

Taiwan's Biggest Biopharmaceutical Firm Made an Investment of $80 Million into Chungnam
On April 17, 2009, Mr. Lee Wan-gu, provincial governor of Chungnam, signed an MOU agreement with Mr. Seong Mu-yeong, mayor of Cheonan, Mr. Rong-Jin Lin, head of TTY Biopharm, and Mr. Kim Yeong-jung, head of Kuhnil at the headquarters of TTY Biopharm in Taipei, Taiwan. The agreement was on an $80 million investment into Cheonan to build a factory to manufacture anti-cancer protein drugs.
Headquartered in Taiwan, TTY Biopharm is the biggest non-multinational pharmaceutical company in the world, and runs a specialized structure of developing and marketing anti-cancer drugs and treatments for severe liver diseases with its R&D and manufacturing plant in Taiwan. Its sales network covers 30 branches across China.
Mr. Rong-Jin Lin, head of the company, said at the agreement event, “The combination between TTY Biopharm's world-leading anti-cancer treatments and Kuhnil capital and global marketing means will bring many win-win benefits to both of them: TTY Biopharm will cut down its R&D expenses, and Kuhnil will cut down the time to develop new drugs.”

Magna Power Train (MPT) Signed a Capital Investment Agreement into Asan, Chungnam
The automakers and automobile parts companies are in deep trouble all over the world due to the global recession. Chungnam, however, attracted attention by attracting Magna Power Train (MPT), investment into its Asan company. MPT is the world's third largest automobile parts company based in Austria.
At the Intercontinental Hotel Seoul on January 23, 2009, Provincial Governor Lee Wan-gu and Asan mayor Kang Hee-bok signed an investment MOU agreement for the Asan Techno Valley with MPT president Jake Hirsh and WIA VP Kim Chi-woong.
Over the next five years, MPT will make $11 million (15 billion won) investments into Chungnam's Asan Techno Valley (16,528㎡) where they will manufacture electronic couplings.
WIA MPT is the world's third largest automobile parts company based in Austria according to supply records in 2007. It has 83,900 employees, 241 factories, and 62 research labs all over the world. In Korea, it has produced oil pumps and other products at the Cheonan and Asan factory.
Set up by Hyundai Motors and Kia Motors, WIA manufactures power delivery devices for vehicles, ranks at No. 92 in Korea with its sales of 3.30 trillion won in 2007, and runs a manufacturing plant in Seosan, Chungnam.

Chungnam Held an Investment Explana-tory Meeting in Shanghai, China
Accompanied by the local government heads within the province and the staff of the Yellow Sea Free Economic Zone (YESFEZ), Mr. Lee Wan-gu, provincial governor of Chungnam, held a large-scale investment explanatory meeting whose volume amounted to eight trillion won for 130 Chinese companies in Shanghai, China on April 16, 2009.
His decision came from his judgment that China had continued to raise its international status to one of the world's three major economic powers after years of being the “black hole” in absorbing foreign capital as the world plant.
He said at the meeting that “China foreign exchange reserves, which amounts to two trillion dollars, are looking for a destination. According to the analysis by Korea Bank, you can create 1,000 jobs and increase domestic investment by 830 billion dollars by attracting 100 million dollars.”

Chungnam Opened an Honorary Trade Center in Sao Paulo, Brazil
On April 5, 2009, Chungnam opened an honorary trade center in Sao Paulo, Brazil in order to establish a bridgehead for exports to Central and South America.
Set up by the cooperative work between the Association of Korean Businesses in Central and South America and Chungnam, the trade center will open many doors to exporting companies in the province. At the opening event, Provincial Governor Lee Wan-gu said, “Brazil is a country with unlimited potential in terms of resources. I must admit that the central government and local governments of Korea have relatively neglected the region.” He also added that the trade center would be the starting point of Chungnam's collaborations with the consulate general of Sao Paulo, the Association, and the Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Brazil in order to establish a bridgehead for the province small-or medium-sized companies trying to advance into the region.
The Association represents Korean entrepreneurs operating in 11 nations in Central and South America such as Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Peru, and Paraguay, and engages in a wide range of economic activities including international trade and attraction of investment in the region. It has supported exploration of the Central and South American markets by Chungnam-based firms, and provided information about market trends since its agreement on collaboration with the province on October 25, 2007.