Busan launches center to help foreign entrepreneurs start businesses, settle in region

Busan city government will hold an opening ceremony Monday afternoon for the Busan Global Startup Immigration Center at the Busan Eurasia Platform.

The Global Startup Immigration Center runs the OASIS (Overall Assistance for Startup Immigration System) program, offering startup education, mentoring and other support to foreigners who wish to launch businesses in Korea. The Busan center, the first of its kind in southeastern Korea, was designated through a Ministry of Justice open competition and is operated exclusively by the Busan Technology Startup Investment Institute.

About 50 people are expected to attend the opening ceremony, including Kim Hyeon-chae, head of the Busan Immigration and Foreign Affairs Office; Lee Cheong-il, head of the Busan Regional Office of SMEs and Startups; Kim Yong-u, chief executive of the Busan Creative Economy Innovation Center; and foreign (prospective) entrepreneurs participating in the OASIS program.

The event will feature a certificate-of-designation ceremony, a progress report and announcement of future operating plans, and an unveiling of the center's nameplate. A special lecture by Kazimi Agosu — founder of ACAFO, a Korean employment platform for foreigners, and a foreign talent recruitment strategist — will follow, along with a networking session for participants.

Global Startup Immigration Centers had previously been concentrated in Seoul, but in line with the government's national balanced development policy, they have been expanding to regional cities since last year. There are currently four centers in Seoul (the Korea Productivity Center, Korea Management Association Consulting, the Korea Startup Promotion Agency and the Seoul Global Center), along with centers at the North Jeolla Creative Economy Innovation Center, the North Chungcheong Bio-Industry and Academia Convergence Institute, and the Busan Technology Startup Investment Institute, bringing the total to seven. The Busan Technology Startup Investment Institute has been running startup literacy education and one-on-one mentoring for foreign entrepreneurs since May.

In the second half of the year, the city plans to continue a step-by-step curriculum covering startup education, mentoring, incubating, company incorporation support and commercialization support. Program completers will receive points toward the technology startup visa (D-8-4) and recommendation letters to help foreign startup talent settle in the region.

The city plans to link the cooperative network of global startup ecosystem stakeholders, overseas investors and startup support organizations it has built around the Asia Startup Expo with the immigration center's operations, with the goal of developing Busan into a global startup hub.