Inchon airport to have free-trade zone

A Hong Kong-style free-trade zone will be established on a 600,000-pyong space (one pyong equals 3.3 square meters) at Inchon International Airport, scheduled to open in March. It would be the first of such zone in Korea.

The Ministry of Construction and Transportation announced Monday that the ministry would create a tariff-free zone by developing a 600,000-pyong area, northeast of Inchon International Airport, as a means of fostering the airport as a hub of logistics in East Asia. To that effect, it will submit relevant application documents to the Ministry of Finance and Economy early next year.

It is the first time for the country to push for the setup of a free-trade zone. It is also considering whether to build such zones at harbor facilities in Pusan and Kwangyang.

After notifying this region of the tariff free zone in June next year, the ministry will designate a 300,000-pyong space as the development region first and begin to reclaim the site and build basic facilities, including roads, water supply facilities, drainage works, and electricity, from December.

In 2003, when the construction of basic facilities is completed, the ministry will accept applications from businesses and institutions wishing to move into the zone, and lease land to them. After completing relevant facility works, the ministry plans to operate the zone from January 2005 officially.