Jeju island will be turned into an eco-friendly visa-free international city tempting tourists with sightseeing and recreation and business people with lucrative hi-tech, logistics and finance opportunities by 2010.
Prime Minister Lee Han-dong Monday chaired a Jeju Free International City Committee meeting to establish the basic plan to develop Jeju Island into a Northeast Asian hub for the free flow of capital, commodities and people to assure maximum trade potential.
The plan allows visitors from 17 countries, including Vietnam, Mongolia, Cambodia and Pakistan, to enter the island without visas and in some cases travel to the mainland.
The move is expected to particularly boost the number of tourists from China.
The duration of no-visa tours will increase to 30 days from the current 15, and experts in foreign language education, information telecommunications, bio-technology and tourism can stay for a maximum of five years, up from the current three.
Domestic or foreign investors who put more than 10 million dollars into the island will receive three-year exemptions from corporate, income and local taxes and 50 percent tax cuts thereafter.