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100+
Executives and Investors attend First Busan (Korea) North American
Investment Forum in New York
(Business/Government/Assignment Editors)
NEW YORK -- June 27, 2005 -- Over one hundred investors, executives,
financial and service professionals, journalists and other interested
individuals joined together to attend the first Busan
North American Investment Forum on June 14, 2005
at the Waldorf=Astoria
Hotel in New York.
 This
event was sponsored by The Busan
Port Authority (BPA), Busan-Jinhae
Free Economic Zone Association (BJFEZA) and the Korea
International Trade Association (KITA) and organized
with support from KWR
International, Inc. Supporting organizations
included the Asia
Society, Korea
Society, Manhattan
Chamber of Commerce and U.S.-Korea
Business Council. Supporting publications included Asia
Times, Business
Facilities, EE
Times, fDi
Magazine, Journal
of Commerce, and the
KWR
International Advisor.
Following welcoming comments by BPA President June-Suk Choo,
Dr. Scott B. MacDonald delivered a presentation titled “Korea
as a Dynamic Hub: An Economic Overview”. BPA Marketing
Director Mr. Boo-Wan Kang then spoke about “Business
Opportunities in Busan Port”. After a short recess, Mr. Bill Woo, Marketing
Director of the BJFEZA addressed the audience concerning “The
Busan-Jinhae Free Economic Zone: Incentives and an Ideal Working
Environment for Transportation, Technology and Industrial Firms”.
This was followed by Mr. Woo-won Lee, Managing Director of the
Korea International Trade Association and Head of the Korea International
Logistics Council who briefed participants on “Introduction
to Investing in Korea: Opportunities and Potential in the “Gateway
to North Asia”. The visiting delegation then answered questions
before adjourning for further talk during a luncheon session.
During their stay in New York, the Busan delegation also toured
the Port
Newark Container Terminal and met with
Admiral Richard M. Larrabee, the Director of the Port
Commerce Department
of the Port Authority of New
York and New Jersey .
Strategically located on the southeastern tip of the Korean
peninsula, Busan is the second largest city in Korea. It is
a thriving metropolitan
center, with approximately 3.7 million inhabitants. Busan's
deep harbor and gentle tides have transformed it into the largest
port
in the country -- handling 80% of total Korean container volume
-- and the third largest transshipment container facility in
the world. The creation of the Busan-Jinhae
Free Economic Zone in March
2004 -- a 25,000 acre complex that includes Busan New Port,
the Busan Science
and Industrial Park and a range of other
facilities
-- now offers foreign corporations and investors a range of
tax and other incentives, further accentuating Busan's attractiveness
as a business and investment destination.
"Busan possesses one of the largest container facilities in the
world. While it has maintained sister port relationships with the
Port of New York/New Jersey and Port of Seattle since the 1980s – few
Americans outside of the maritime community are aware of our city
and its business and investment potential,” noted BPA President
Mr. June-Suk Choo. “As a result, we were very pleased with
the high turnout and quality of discussion encountered during
this first road show visit to the United States. We look forward
to
building on this success and to expanding our interactions with
interested corporations, investors and other individuals for
many years to come."
"Busan has served as a major global transshipment and industrial
center for many decades. It constitutes a central element of Korean
efforts to transform the nation into a dynamic hub and focal point
for Northeast Asian transportation and logistical services,” commented
Mr. Percy Pyne, Developer of the PH Port Consortium project in
Incheon, Korea. "The newly-created Busan-Jinhae Free Economic
Zone further accentuates the city’s underlying strengths
by providing foreign companies with attractive incentives as
well as well as a strategically-located platform in which to
base their
operations."
 "Rapid globalization and regional integration has created a need
for an ever-expanding network of cross-border relationships --
not only between corporations, but between governments, municipalities
and infrastructure facilities as well", stated Mr. Al Hirshen,
Senior Advisor to the Chairman of Indonesia’s Batam
Industrial Development Authority who traveled to New York to attend this event. "I
was pleased by this opportunity to learn about Busan, and hope
to continue the discussions we initiated with the BJFEZA in New
York, in an effort to develop an alliance between our two Free
Economic Zones.”
To access the presentations that were delivered at the First
Busan North American Investment Forum and to obtain additional
background
material, please visit http://www.kwrintl.com/busan/materials/ or contact the individual noted below.
Contact: Keith Rabin
KWR International Inc.
Tel +1-212-532-3005
Fax +1-212-685-2413
busan@kwrintl.com
This material is published and disseminated by KWR
International, Inc. on behalf of the Korea
International Trade Association (KITA).
Additional information is on file with the Department of Justice,
Washington, D.C.
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