The Seoul Institute announced the results of the survey on the actual economic sentiment of Seoul consumers and the economic policies they want from the Seoul Metropolitan Government (SMG) in the second quarter.” The consumer confidence index,* which indicates Seoul citizens’ economic sentiment, including expectations of livelihood, recorded 92.9 in the second quarter of 2021,...   Read more

Since 2009, the Seoul Intellectual Property Center has been providing support to reinforce the intellectual property (IP) rights of SMEs and enhance their competitiveness. Over the past 11 years, over 11,000 companies have received a total of 18,330 cases of support. They acquired 5,478 new IP rights, including domestic and international patents, and 1,808 cases...   Read more

The Seoul Metropolitan Government (SMG) succeeded in attracting the CABEI’s Korea office to the capital. The success came three months after the SMG showed its intent to invite the organization and started the negotiation. To support public and private investment in regionally balanced development and economic integration, the CABEI was established in 1960 as a...   Read more

The Seoul Metropolitan Government (SMG) is creating a metaverse to promote promising Seoul-based startups in a collective virtual shared space that converges virtually enhanced physical reality and physically persistent virtual space. The SMG will open the Seoul Startup Hub via ZEPETO, a global metaverse platform with over 200 million global users. The term “metaverse” is...   Read more

The Seoul Metropolitan Government (SMG) opened Seoul Startup Hub Ho Chi Minh in Vietnam. Seoul Startup Hub Ho Chi Minh aims to help domestic startups lay the foundation for its expansion into overseas markets through aggressive support from international public agencies. This first global hub of Seoul Startup is the first international case of the...   Read more

The Seoul Metropolitan Government (SMG) signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on joint MICE marketing with provincial offices of Gyeonggi-do, Chungcheongbuk-do, Jeollabuk-do and Gyeongsangnam-do. This agreement came to fruition after proposing other local governments nationwide to conduct joint marketing. The proposal was based on the anticipation of potential demands for MICE as COVID-19 vaccination began...   Read more

The Seoul Metropolitan Government (SMG) is providing employment support for the growth of startups and the cultivation of global unicorns (unlisted companies with business valuation of more than KRW 1 trillion). The SMG is also subsidizing foreign-invested startups in the field of new industries (e.g. IT, biotechnology) with up to KRW 50 million each if...   Read more

The Seoul Metropolitan Government (SMG) will conduct a factual survey for deciding on SME-suitable business areas. “SME-suitable business areas” operate as a system to seek reasonable division of roles between large enterprises and SMEs by designating business areas in which SMEs can display their competitiveness. The term of designation is three years and it can...   Read more

The Seoul Metropolitan Government (SMG) and Seoul Tourism Organization (STO) are executing a comprehensive plan to transform the MICE industry, which is facing a crisis to the point where 80% of the events have been canceled since the COVID-19 pandemic. They plan on adopting the hybrid format, which is the new global industry standard. Hybrid...   Read more

The Seoul Metropolitan Government’s (SMG) support to 100 promising start-ups with its “growth acceleration package” through an investment of KRW 10 billion for their continuous growth against stagnation caused by COVID-19 is showing visible results. The SMG allowed the startups to use the fund in areas they need, such as commercialization, R&D, employment and new...   Read more

The Seoul Metropolitan Government (SMG) will be holding the Seoul Innovation Challenge over the course of 10 months starting on March 16, being the first local government to use an open platform to solve urban problems and lead Industry 4.0 while discovering innovative ideas and technologies. Celebrating the 5th anniversary, Seoul Innovation Challenge has discovered...   Read more

Despite the present situation of investors’ market sentiment being generally low due to COVID-19, Seoul’s foreign direct investment (FDI) recorded the highest figure in 2020, having exceeded USD 10 billion for two consecutive years. According to the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), global FDI for 2020 was USD 850 billion, which saw a...   Read more