Incheon Investment Promotion Corps Concludes US Investment Promotion Activities Including an Agreement with Cisco

INCHEON, South Korea--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Incheon Investment Promotion Corps led by Song Young-gil, Incheon metropolitan city mayor, returned to Korea on November 2, 2010, after successfully inducing capital investment from the US. The most outstanding achievement in this investment promotion was the agreement for ‘eco-friendly IT infrastructure’ with Cisco, the global US information technology (IT) company with 70% of the global internet equipment market.

“to make the Incheon Free Economic Zone including Songdo International City successful, we surely need the help of Cisco, a global IT company.”

This marks Korea’s first commitment from a global IT company during the 2nd stage of the Incheon Free Economic Zone (IFEZ), scheduled to be completed by 2014.

On October 22, 2010, at Cisco’s headquarters in San Jose, California, the city’s Investment Promotion Corps made an ‘execution agreement for the U-City project investment • cooperation’ between Incheon and Cisco. The main point of this agreement is the foundation of a civil partnership of Cisco’s Global Center, Asian Game pilot project, and Smart Community Service Center.

The agreement includes a detailed execution schedule of the memorandum of understanding (MOU) for the Songdo project that includes the Smart City Global Center opening and the 2014 Asian Game pilot project. Accordingly, this will accelerate Cisco’s USD 2 billion Korean investment.

CEO John Chambers expects Incheon to be the first successful case of bringing forward social and economic development of a city and preparing an eco-friendly city infrastructure. Mayor Song said, “to make the Incheon Free Economic Zone including Songdo International City successful, we surely need the help of Cisco, a global IT company.”

Incheon is planning to make Songdo International City as a successful model for U-City, benchmarked by countries around the world, and to use the city as a platform to attract global companies in collaboration with Cisco.

Smart City is defined as a networked and intelligent city where primary public functions such as transportation • public security • energy • water supply and drainage are managed by advanced information and communication technology (ICT). Smart City guides life’s conveniences, environmental protection, and sustainable development through data sharing in living spaces where internal infrastructure, residents, and nature are interconnected.

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