Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon announces a city plan to attract foreign talent and companies at City Hall on May 20, 2024. (Image courtesy of Yonhap)
SEOUL, May 20 (Korea Bizwire) — The Seoul city government announced Monday it will invest 250.6 billion won (US$184.8 million) over the next five years to attract foreign talent and businesses, aiming to boost the city’s global competitiveness.
The plan, announced by Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon, came amid an increasing foreign population in Seoul, with foreign residents accounting for 440,000, or 4.7 percent, of the capital’s population, raising the need to incorporate foreigners into the city’s workforce.
The project is primarily centered on attracting some 1,000 foreigners with master’s or doctoral degrees in science and engineering in cooperation with major universities and aims to encourage 100 global firms preferred by foreign talent to relocate to Seoul.
As part of this goal, Seoul plans to select 10 universities with specialties in cutting-edge technologies and provide financial assistance of up to 1.5 billion won annually to each for a three-year period.
Starting in July in Jakarta, Indonesia, the city will also host a biannual foreign study fair in foreign cities to draw foreign students and create a scholarship program, awarding 20 million won per student annually to outstanding foreign students.
By 2030, the city also plans to establish a startup assistance center in central Seoul, offering services in English, as well as Korean, and aiming to host over 100 foreign startups seeking to expand into Seoul and the broader Asian market.
The plan also includes attracting foreign direct investment and helping foreign students in Seoul find jobs at startups and artificial intelligence firms or launch their own startups.
Another pillar of the five-year plan focuses on bringing in and nurturing the foreign workforce in sectors facing labor shortages, such as caregiving, child care, dining and hotel services.
As part of this initiative, the city is scheduled to launch a pilot project in September, introducing some 100 foreign housework helpers for domestic employment from the Philippines.
The city further intends to actively seek the introduction of foreign workers to deal with the workforce shortage in the caregiving sector, which is estimated to be in need of 80,000 more workers.
To help retain the foreign workforce, the city also aims to provide them with welfare benefits for pregnancy, childbirth and child care equal to those given to South Korean nationals, the city also said.
“In order for Seoul to propel into the ranks of the top five global cities, Seoul must become a more inclusive city that more actively attracts foreign workers and firms and fully utilizes their ideas, capital and potential,” Oh said.
(Yonhap)
