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Agreement seeks to attract investment in medical sector
The government said it would allow foreign-run hospitals to be established in free economic zones located on South Korean soil. According to the plan, investors in the medical facilities would be subject to tax exemption. Already, a professional medical clinic geared mainly toward foreigners has been slated for construction on Yeongjong Island, near Incheon, part of that city’s free economic zone.At the Free Economic Zone (FEZ) meeting during the June 7 second round of the National Economy Consultation Meeting, presided over by President Roh Moo-hyun, the government decided to grant the tax exemption to investors in the medical sector. The investors will benefit from the exemption according to a law for promoting foreign investment in South Korean free economic zones. At present, investors in hospitals in South Korea are not tax exempt. The facility on Yeongjong Island will include services such as plastic surgery, dentistry, rehabilitation, and traditional Oriental medicine. Such a plan is timed with opening of a branch of the New York Presbyterian hospital on Songdo Island, also part of Incheon’s free economic zone, at the end of 2008. The Songdo medical complex will house domestic hospitals and clinics as well as foreign-run hospitals. Medical advertisements, prohibited in domestic hospitals, will be allowed. The government plan is to turn the Incheon free economic zone into the ’medical hub’ of Northeast Asia. They plan to link the medical facilities to other offerings such as tourist and resort facilities, hotels, spas, and golf courses. The Busan and Gwangyang special economic zones will try to attract more international hospitals, mainly for cancer and diabetes care. The government is going to gradually increase the supply of rental houses in the economic zones to further attract foreign investors.
