Busan Jinhae gets $30m German investment

Germany-based industrial pump maker Wilo SE will invest $30 million in the Busan Jinhae Free Economic Zone, the BJFEZ Authority announced Wednesday.

A memorandum of understanding for the investment was plan was signed by BJFEZ Authority commissioner Ha Myeng-keun and the German firm’s chief operating officer Holger Krasmann at Busan City Hall on Tuesday.

Under the agreement, Wilo SE’s Korean arm Wilo Pump will relocate all of its facilities to an industrial complex dedicated to industrial components and materials producers under construction in Busan.

Wilo Pump is the country’s top manufacturer of water supply pumps and recorded 145.6 billion won ($225.4 million) in sales last year.

According to the BJFEZ Authority’s estimates, the investment will create 100 new jobs in Busan. The authority also said that with many of Wilo Pump’s existing workforce looking to relocate to Busan, the economic effects of the investment will be larger than those arising directly from the establishment of the plants. 

The new complex is scheduled for completion at the end of the year, and the BJFEZ is currently negotiating with concerned branches of the central government to designate it as a foreign investment area that allows government support to be provided to foreign-invested companies in the complex.

According to the BJFEZ Authority, works on the 32.8 hectare-complex are currently about 50 percent complete.

The authority also said that if the complex is designated as a foreign investment area, foreign-invested companies setting up facilities will have free use of land for up to 50 years.

By Choi He-suk  (cheesuk@heraldcorp.com)