Songdo Int'l Convention Center Being Built
- In Incheon Free Economic Zone aimed at a hub in N.E. Asia

The groundbreaking ceremony for the 'Songdo International Convention Center' took place on Nov.11 with Deputy Prime Minister and Finance-Economy Minister Lee Hun-jai as the guest of honor, Gale International Korea(GIK) said recently. Other guests included Donald P. Gregg, former U.S. ambassador to Korea, Stanley Gale, chairman and CEO of the Gale Co., Chris Niehaus, senior managing director of Morgan Stanley Real Estate, and Peter DeGalan, vice president of Taubman.
The event marks the start of the full-fledged development of New Songdo City designated as a Free Economic Zone(FEZ) om August, 2003 in accordance with the Act on Designation and Management of Free Economic Zones enacted in December, 2002, GIK said. The current kick-off project of 1,364 acres of the International Business District of New Songdo City is undertaken by Gale International Korea, with a view to heralding the development of the Incheon's Free Economic Zone and to attracting increased foreign investment. Of this, around 82 acres, including the convention center, was designated as an early development area.
As a goodwill gesture and a token of appreciation for cooperation, Gale International Korea will donate the convention center to Incheon Metropolitan City upon its completion scheduled for December, 2007. GIK is a 70/30 joint venture between the Gale Co. and POSCO Engineering and Construction established to develop 1,364 acres of New Songdo City.
The convention center will have one floor below ground and two floors above. Being an ultra-modern, high-tech state-of-art architecture with columnless space of around 106,000 square feet, it will present an optimal venue for international conventions and exhibitions. With the 65-story Asia Trade Tower, residences, hotels, and shopping malls in its immediate vicinity, the area will serve as a prime location for international businesses.
DPM Lee in his speech said, "The government will make every effort to ensure the success of New Songdo City." He also called for "domestic and foreign companies' participation in the project."
The convention facility is a core structure in Songdo international business district, a signal that the district when completed will be a huge success and virtual start of the development of the Incheon Songdo free economic zone. The international convention center and other facilities including a large exhibition center will be built on a space of land encompassing 16.11 million pyeong by 2014. by 2020, the free economic zone will have a knowledge information industrial park, technology park and a high-tech bio park to move closer to becoming an economic hub in Northeast Asia.
The projected knowledge-information industrial park will be developed as an IT hub by attracting a number of key manufacturers and wholesalers. At the present time, such world-renowned companies as Microsoft, Hewlett-Packard, Sun Microsystems and KT, among others, plan to invest $1 billion to set up a digital entertainment cluster(DEC). In the Songdo district "Songdo Techno Park" building has been built in its 130,000 pyeong land. An American firm will invest $150 million to build a high-tech bio park on a 109,000 pyeong park. In addition, a number of U.S. companies plan to invest in the free economic zone including Taubman Co., a real estate developer, architecture firm KPF and golf course designer Jack Niclaus Co..
Ahn Young-do, director-general of the foreign investment promotion bureau of the Incheon Free Economic Zone Office, said the success of the Incheon free economic zone will depend on getting a huge foreign investment from foreign companies. In order to achieve it, the zone should have every thing including education and medical facilities and other infrastructure services so that it would be able to function as an international city. nw