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Located in southern-most part of the Korean peninsula, Pusan has stood as the nation's gateway to outer world for much of the nation's history. Korea's second largest city has also played the role of transport hub for exchanges between other nations. Since it was opened as an international port in 1876, Pusan has been a major player in national economic development as the nation's largest port city and its commercial and trading center. The city has come under spotlight recently as one of the country's most promising areas for foreign investment on account of its excellent geographical merits and its logistical pre-eminence in developing and servicing overseas markets. The nation's period of economic growth began in Pusan in the mid-1970s, with the rising importance of labor-intensive export-oriented industries such as textiles, footwear and plywood. Its status as an industrial location, however, declined relatively as heavy industrial areas surrounding the city like Changwon, Koje and Ulsan began to prosper.
The massive projects of the new port area in Pusan's Kadok Island and Pusan Teleport, now under development is aimed at putting Pusan among the world's top three port cities by 2011. Pusan and its industrial base possesses huge investment potential. Its well-developed transport system is a factor in this regard. Further development in this area will enable the city to assume the role of a transportation hub for North East Asia. The Port of Pusan is Korea's chief conduit for foreign trade, handling 95 percent of the country's container traffic. In order to process the international container traffic more smoothly, piers have been upgraded with the latest facilities. Currently, Pusan is the fifth largest container port in the world, dealing with 5.75 million TEU (20-feet equivalent unit) of containers per year. Once the new port is completed, Pusan will become a port of world-ranking. Furthermore, the expansion of Kimhae International Airport, due to be completed by 2002, the construction of the high-speed railway linking Seoul and Pusan to be finished by 2006, together with the existing expressway and railway linking Seoul and Pusan, are all factors which serve to enhance the merit of Pusan as a location for investment.
Pusan is central to a number of industrial cities in the southeastern area including Pohang, Ulsan, Changwon and Masan, which comprise the Southeast industrial belt region. To accommodate high value added industries, Pusan has selected ten strategic industries with the aim of attracting them to locate in newly developed industrial parks including the Noksan, Shinho and Jisa R&D Complexes. Adjacent to the Pusan Teleport, the Pusan Exhibition and Convention centers are now under construction and are scheduled to be completed by 2001. With the opening of the Korea Futures Exchange in March and the envisioned completion of a financial complex in 2001, Pusan will boost the regional financial industry and be well-positioned to become a leading international financial center. The completion of Pusan Exhibition Center and Convention Center will put Pusan among the contenders to host major international expositions and other trade events. Noksan Industrial Complex completed in 1998, Shinho Industrial Park and a scientific complex to be completed until 2000 and 2001, are expected promote Pusan as a key component in the future industrial development of the nation. Experts cite finance, the information, logistics, machinery and auto components industries as the most promising sectors for investment in Pusan. Major Pusan industries include shoes, textiles and shipbuilding. The city boasts an advanced technological base and highly skilled technical personnel in these areas. Pusan has the largest shoe production lines in Korea. In the shipbuilding sector, major heavy industry companies - Hanjung, Hyundai, Daewoo and Samsung - achieve new levels of productivity as they work on full order books in Pusan and its vicinity. Given the city's industrial base, promising investment sectors include shoes and leather, textiles and fashion together with shipbuilding facilities and material. In Pusan lie the origins of the Korean shipbuilding industry which currently has the capacity to build vessels of 800,000 tons. About 60 percent of the total ship parts for Korea are produced in Pusan. In the 1960s, the textile industry was the major export industry of Pusan, but its contribution to the local economy has since lessened because of the local rise of heavy and chemical industries. The city now claims 24 percent of the total industrial production of Korea, with the heavy and chemical industries constituting one of the city's major industries. Shoe manufacturing is Pusan's premier industry, responsible for 82 percent of Korean output, of which more than 70 percent is exported. Surrounded by natural scenic beauty, Pusan has also tremendous potential in the tourism sector. Coastal areas of outstanding natural beauty are to found at Haeundae and Kijang. Together with the site of an ancient city, Kyongju, all rank as valuable resources for tourism promotion. International film festivals and art fetes are held every year, and in 2002, the city will host the Asian Games and some World Cup matches. All told, Pusan's investment advantages in the areas of film and entertainment, heritage and culture, tourism and tourism-related products are nothing short of outstanding. The city government plans to develop the ten strategic industries it has so designated by providing additional technological and promotional assistance. They include five high potential industries such as harbor logistics, software, finance, tourism and the film industry, and also include five traditional high value-added industries, namely, automobiles and parts, shipbuilding and its equipment, footwear, textiles and fashion, and the fishery. Even though it has a history dating back 5,000 years, Pusan only gained prominence as Korea's major harbor after its international port opened in 1876. Moreover, Pusan did not grow into a major city, now home to more than four million people and the second-largest city in Korea, until after the Korean War. The industrial structure of Pusan is slowly changing from commerce and the labor-intensive manufacturing industries of the 1970s, to the financial and distribution industry.
Strategic Location Located geographically in the center of Northeast Asia, Pusan is a natural gateway to the Eurasian continent and regional hub port. All the cities in Japan and the eastern part of China can be reached within 400 kilometers. Approximately 60 percent of the world's logistical transportation activities are concentrated in the major East Asian ports, Pusan among them. Based on its geographical advantage, Pusan stands as an unrivaled candidate for the departure and terminal point for both the Trans-Siberia Railway and the Trans-China Railway, an item which was on the agenda of the first ASEM meeting in 1996. A Transportation Crossroads The strategic location of Pusan is reinforced by its surrounding transportation infrastructure: an international airport, international ferry and container ports, expressways and railways. For the full utilization of its locational advantages, Pusan has planned and implemented several projects to augment its infrastructure including the Pusan New Port, Pusan-Koje Bridge, Coastal Ring Road, and Kimhae International Airport expansion. Pusan is preparing for the 21st century by upgrading its total business environment. The Coastal Ring Road project is designed to enhance overall logistical efficiency by connecting water and inland transportation. It will connect to the existing intra-city highway system mostly by elevated roads. As part of the Coastal Ring Road network connecting the Pusan New Harbor, via Noksan Industrial Complex and Pusan Harbor, to Pusan Teleport, the city plans to construct three bridges including the 1,927-meter-long South Harbor Bridge, the 5,770-meter-long cable-sustained North Harbor Bridge, and the 7,420-meter-long Kwangan Bridge. Together, these three bridges are expected to improve local transportation to a superb level of efficiency and also change the landscape of this seaside port to resemble something approaching that of San Francisco. Meanwhile, Kimhae Airport is undergoing a massive expansion in capacity, due to be completed by 2002 when the Asian Games and several World Cup matches take place in Pusan. As the southern terminal of both the Kyungbu Expressway and Kyungbu Railway, Pusan has convenient access to the Seoul Metropolitan area. Such accessibility will be even more enhanced with the completion of the High Speed Railway in 2006. Also, the Namhae Expressway and other national highways connect Pusan to centers throughout the southeastern part of the peninsula.
A Self-sustaining Economy with a Huge Market Pusan has a sizable market with a population of approximately four million and a GRDP of US$17 billion. Within an hour's driving distance, lives a population of more than 10 million generating a GRDP of approximately US$62 billion. Given its location, Pusan is ideally situated to service the Korean market, the 11th biggest economy in the world, and is close to the other vast regional markets of China, Japan, and Russia. Korea's Prime Tourist Destination Located on the coast at the southeastern tip of the Korean Peninsula, at the mouth of the Naktong River, Pusan has a mild climate that draws thousands of visitors annually. Pusan abounds with various kinds of tourist attractions including beautiful sandy beaches, hot springs, historic heritage sites such as Pomosa Temple and Kumjung Fortress, a 17-kilometer long mountain castle rebuilt in 1860. Chagalchi Market, the venue of the Pusan Marine Festival, is always full of tourists. The Pusan International Film Festival since its inception in 1996, has already become the most popular international film festival in all of Asia. Abundant Human Resources Pusan is home to 25 universities and colleges as well as 12 graduate schools vested with a wide variety of major departments, representing an human resource development base for any potential investor. As of February 1999 there were 209 foreign-invested companies in Pusan, including such diverse businesses as the Hotel Lotte Pusan, Samsung Motors, and Korea Shell Petroleum, representing investments in total of over $1 billion. Choong H. Nam, vice mayor of Pusan Metropolitan city said, "We can provide foreign investors with a broad-based follow-up service in addition to all kinds of incentives and measures to help them achieve profitability in Korea" Pusan is committed to attracting foreign investment, acknowledging it is vital for city's development in order to meet the challenges of forthcoming century. With this aim in mind, the city has formed the PM (project management) Consortium to take responsibility for investment inducement and consulting, plus project and construction planning. Prominent international companies and institutions in the fields of finance, design, and consulting will be invited to participate in the consortium on a project-by-project basis. Pusan Metropolitan City
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The construction of a new 25-berth facility
in Pusan has been pursued with a view to developing
Pusan Port as the commercial center for the Far East
in the 21st century. The development is one of three
major state-sponsored projects along with the construction
of Yongjong International Airport and the high-speed
railway linking Seoul and Pusan. The project is to enable
Pusan Port, currently the world's fifth largest container
port, to better compete with Singapore and Hong Kong.
Since 1876 when Pusan's international port
opened, it has been a major center for Korean trade
in Northeast Asia. It handles 45 percent of the nation's
total export freight and 90 percent of its total container
transport. Ranked fifth in the world in terms of container
transport capacity, the harbor is expected to play a
major role in the coming era of the Pacific Rim.
A project to build a bridge linking
Pusan and Koje Island has taken concrete shape with
Daewoo Corporation and GTM Group of France having agreed
to attract $1 billion in foreign investment to this
end. The two companies have also agreed for the latter
to invest $500 million and to attract another $500 million
from other foreign companies.
Dongsung NSC Co.
Ltd. was launched Nov. 1st last year as joint venture
enterprise following an agreement between Dongsung Chemical
Co., which supplies half the world market for
footwear adhesive, and Imperial Chemical Industries
(ICI) of Britain, as part of the Dongsung Group's subsidiary
spin-off program. Under the terms of the agreement,
ICI subsidiary National Starch & Chemical bought
70 percent of the equity of Dongsung Chemical for $57.8
million; Dongsung Chemical will retain the remaining
30 percent. 
Dongsung NSC Co.
can thus produce a range of different adhesives. Moon
J. Lee, commercial director for Dongsung NSC Co. on
behalf of the ICI Group, cited Dongsung's technology
for the production of shoe adhesives as central to ICI's
aims in establishing Dongsung NSC. NSC, which had previously
focused on heavy chemical industries, has been attempting
to shift the focus of its business to light chemical
products and their marketing. In order for the company
to advance its strategy, Dongsung has proved to be an
excellent partner as it is staffed by highly trained
employees who have the benefit of accumulated experience
at three of the company's overseas plants. Dongsung
has also increased its share of international markets
through contracts with prominent shoe companies such
as Nike, Adidas and Reebok.