Gyeonggi Governor Kim Moon-soo returned to Korea on April 25 after successful visits to the US, Australia, and New Zealand.

Governor Kim visited the US on April 15 as a special invitee of Korean President Lee Myung-bak, where he was able to attract investments totaling KRW 1 trillion to the province in the logistics and distribution sectors. Leading the delegation from Gyeonggi Province, he realized numerous accomplishments including the strengthening of exchange and cooperation with Queensland, Australia; the delivery of an investor briefing for Korea International Boat Show 2008; the execution of site visits to world-class theme parks; and the bolstering of cooperation in bio-medical and horse-related industries.

Most notably, he contributed to the success of the new Korean President’s first investment inducement mission by attracting investment from ProLogis, a global logistics leader, for the Pyeongtaek Port Logistics Complex and Namyangju areas. In Australia, he pledged to build a closer partnership with Premier Anna Maria Bligh of Queensland State, Gyeonggi’s sister region. In terms of investment attraction, he succeeded in securing two large-scale commitments including KRW 1 trillion from ProLogis and KRW 9.2 billion from Bishop, an automobile parts manufacturer. He also reaffirmed his commitment to promote the biotechnology and medical industries.

Regarding the investment by ProLogis, Governor Kim said, “Although Korea, especially Gyeonggi Province, has the potential to become a global logistics hub, our current logistics regulations, which forcibly allocate logistics volume to each city and province, limit our capacity to attract investment in the service sector. At the moment, our capacity to attract investment in the manufacturing sector has reached its limit. Now is the time to promptly lift regulations, so as to expand investments in the service sector.”

After staying in the US for five days, Governor Kim visited Sydney, Brisbane, the Gold Coast, and Auckland in New Zealand starting on April 19. He hosted investor briefings on the Gold Coast (Australia) and Auckland (New Zealand) on April 23 and 25, respectively. These briefings were attended by more than 130 local participants, and Governor Kim took the opportunity to introduce Korea International Boat Show 2008, which will be held at Jeongok Port, Hwaseong City, in June, and provided an overview of the investment environment of Korea¡¯s marine leisure industry.

He also visited advanced marina and equestrian facilities of Australia and New Zealand, countries which boast the world’s top marine industries. Local experts advised the Governor on measures through which to develop these industries in Gyeonggi Province. During an official meeting with the Premier of Queensland, he showed considerable interest in the successful administrative integration of small local governments that has been implemented by the Queensland State Government, and asked Premier Bligh to introduce success cases to Gyeonggi Province. Regarding the English education industry, which is gaining attention in the private sector, the two leaders agreed to pursue cooperation through education exchange and tele-education.

Governor Kim’s visit also contributed to the promotion of Korea’s horse-related industries. Australia has a strong pride in and respect for its horses, so much so that it hosted the equestrian games in Spain during the 2002 Sydney Olympic Games to prevent an influx of foreign horses. Prime Minister Bligh of Queensland pledged to provide Gyeonggi Province with Australia’s expertise in the area of horse breeding, and to cooperate in diverse sectors, including horse riding, horse racing, the operation of art galleries, and resource industries such as coal and steel.

During his visit to Australia, Governor Kim also signed an MOU between GDCA and FTC, and an MOA between EnTox and KIHE to stimulate exchange and cooperation between the video and nano-technology industries reflecting the wide scope of cooperation between the Gyeonggi and Queensland.

Governor Kim emphasized, “We have enormous potential. In order to fully realize this potential, we need to ease regulations, and in particular, to remove the barriers that exist in the areas of culture, tourism, leisure, and the arts.”