Seoul City Launches Sales Campaign in London to Attract Investment by Emphasizing Innovation, Industry, and Talent

[Financial News] The Seoul Metropolitan Government promoted Seoul's investment competitiveness to global investors in London, the world's financial hub. The strategy is to accelerate the attraction of global companies and capital by leveraging its ecosystem for future industries, such as AI and fintech, its environment for demonstrating new technologies, and its excellent human capital. The Seoul Metropolitan Government announced on the 10th that Vice Mayor for Political Affairs Park Chan-gu attended 'Invest K-Finance: London IR 2026,' held in London on the 8th (local time), and introduced Seoul's investment environment and competitiveness to 22 global investment banks (IBs) and asset management firms, including Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley.
This event was hosted by the Financial Supervisory Service and attended by the Seoul Metropolitan Government, the National Pension Service (NPS), Shinhan Financial Group Co., Ltd., Woori Financial Group, Korea Investment & Securities Co., Ltd., and NH Investment & Securities. Approximately 40 senior executives from seven global investment banks and 15 asset management companies participated, and the event was conducted in a small-scale roundtable format to facilitate in-depth discussions with investors.
Vice Mayor Park gave a presentation on the theme of 'Seoul, a Global Hub for Innovation and Investment,' presenting a rapid testbed market, an industrial ecosystem connected to global companies, and excellent human capital as Seoul's three major investment competitivenesss.
In particular, it emphasized that Seoul serves as a testbed capable of rapidly demonstrating new products and services, leveraging its large-scale consumer market and high digital utilization. Through 'Testbed Seoul,' the Seoul Metropolitan Government opens public infrastructure to companies to verify the safety and effectiveness of new technologies in real-world environments and supports their commercialization.
The industrial ecosystem, which is densely populated with the headquarters and major business functions of global companies such as Samsung Group, SK Group, and LG and connected to the metropolitan area's advanced manufacturing and technology base, was also introduced as a strength of Seoul. It was explained that industrial clusters and R&D and demonstration infrastructure are being expanded, centering on future industries such as AI, robotics, and fintech.
It also emphasized talent competitiveness. Seoul ranked 5th globally in the human capital category of the 'Global Power City Index (GPCI)' and is training 10,000 AI specialists annually. It further highlighted that it is building an ecosystem for research and development and talent cultivation centered around the Yangjae AI Cluster.
In fact, foreign investment flowing into Seoul has also been increasing recently. Foreign direct investment (FDI) in Seoul rose by 21.7% from $12.9 billion in 2024 to $15.7 billion last year. Among these, greenfield investment, in which foreign companies establish new corporations or factories in Seoul, increased from $7.4 billion to $9.6 billion.
In particular, new investment increased by 39.4% from $2.3 billion to $3.2 billion, and increased investment by existing foreign-invested companies also rose by 39.7% from $4.1 billion to $5.8 billion. Greenfield investment in the manufacturing sector also surged by 142.8% from $900 million to $2.3 billion.
Foreign investment flowing into Seoul from the European region also increased by 58.1% from $3.1 billion in 2024 to $4.9 billion last year. The Seoul Metropolitan Government plans to use this London IR as an opportunity to expand contacts with European investors and continue attracting capital from global companies.
The Seoul Metropolitan Government is expanding its support system for attracting investment along with strengthening the future industry ecosystem. Last October, it launched Invest Seoul, the first dedicated investment attraction agency among local governments, to support the entire process from global companies' entry into Seoul to the execution of their investments.
Vice Mayor Park stated, "Seoul is an attractive investment destination equipped with a rapidly changing market, a robust high-tech industrial ecosystem, and world-class talent," adding, "We will support more global companies and investors to recognize Seoul's competitiveness through this London IR and lead to actual investments."

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