Greetings, everyone, and thank you for joining us for this week’s edition of GTV.

I’m Don Valiant and this is the news from Gyeonggi Province this week.

Article 1. Gyeonggi Governor Nam Visits Japan (160321-1)

[Anchor’s Headline] On March 20, Gyeonggi Province Governor Nam Kyung-pil returned from his weekend visit to Japan.

During his short stay in Japan, Governor Nam signed an investment agreement with a high-tech enterprise. He also visited a number of leading commercial distributors as well as an urban commercial redevelopment site.

▶ Imperial Hotel Tokyo (May 18)

Gyeonggi Province-Ulvac Techno Investment Agreement Signing Ceremony

On the first day of his visit, Governor Nam signed an investment agreement with Ulvac Techno, a semiconductor equipment manufacturer. This company will invest USD 3.1 million in the expansion of its production facilities in the Hyeongok (현곡) Industrial Complex, which will create an additional 150 new jobs.

▶ Gyeonggi Province Governor Nam Kyung-pil

“I hope that Ulvac will grow with Gyeonggi Province and continue its investment and job creation as well as technology transfer.”

▶ Futagotamakawa Rise Commercial Redevelopment Zone, Tokyo

The governor then visited a large-scale commercial redevelopment zone in Tokyo to view distribution and retail systems.

Governor Nam is currently pursuing the establishment of a universal business platform, symbolically named the Gyeonggi-do Corporation, that will feature all necessary infrastructure including distribution systems and work spaces for SMEs and potential entrepreneurs.

Article 2. Gyeonggi to Establish Child Abuse Prevention System (160318-2)

[Anchor’s Headline] With the recent death of a 6-year-old boy at the hands of his abusive stepmother, child abuse has become a national issue in Korea. In order to improve child protection, Gyeonggi Province convened a meeting of specialists and representatives of related organizations.

In Korea, child abuse reports are normally the responsibility of kindergartens and childcare facilities. However, they can only report cases when the subject child is a user of their facilities. Even though cases of children in blind spots are known, very little can be done for them due to a lack of institutional protection procedures.

▶ Min So-yeong / Social Welfare Specialist

“We must have a social system in place that helps ensure familial wellbeing. This requires the collective effort of related public and private organizations overseen by a central authority. This, in turn, requires the definition of system constituent responsibilities.”

▶ Gyeonggi Small & Medium Business Center (March 16)

‘Child Abuse Identification & Prevention System Establishment Meeting’

The meeting was attended by provincial and local officials, law enforcement officers, and related organizational representatives and scholars.

▶ Gyeonggi Province Governor Nam Kyung-pil

“This cannot be achieved by a single organization but instead by the collaboration of all organizations involved. At this meeting, we must establish a framework for such a collaborative system.”

[CG] The system would consist of: Gyeonggi Province as a control center in cooperation with provincial and local education offices; child protection organizations that oversee reporting; and the police that perform investigations.

[CG] Public and private organizations will share investigation cases while medical and welfare organizations provide follow-up support.

This interlinked system of cooperating organizations will help improve child protection in the province including coverage for those who fall in blind spots.

Article 3. Gyeonggi Supports Business Startups with Online Trading (160317-3)

[Anchor’s Headline] On March 15, the Gyeonggi Small & Medium Business Center held a public briefing on a youth support program for online cross border trading, or CBT, business startups.

Lee (이병운) is an online CBT business owner. Although he still handles everything from packaging to invoicing himself, he enjoys monthly sales of KRW 30 million, a far cry from a mere KRW 3.5 million only a year ago.

▶ [PiP] Lee Byeong-wun / CBT Business Owner

“The future will see an increasing trend of mobile phone use for online international shopping. It will help expand overseas markets for traders and provide them with more opportunities.”

▶ CBT (Cross Border Trade)

This program aims to assist youths with the opening of online businesses for the sale of domestic goods overseas.

[CG] With improved payment and delivery services available, outbound CBT in Korea has grown rapidly over the past five years.

▶ Gyeonggi Small & Medium Business Center (March 15)

This support program is open to youths 20 to 39 years of age in business startup stages, and provides a range of support including education and sales promotion as well as mentoring services in trade practices.

▶ Lee Hyung-gu / Gyeonggi Small & Medium Business Center Official

“We will provide specialized education in online international sales as well as promotion support so as to help new businesses expose their sales items to overseas buyers.”

With the growth of CBT markets and online business tools, there will be more opportunities for retail businesses to target overseas markets.

Article 4. Gyeonggi Disaster & Safety Officials Receive Outdoor Training (160317-2)

[Anchor’s Headline] Gyeonggi provincial and local disaster and safety offices are comprised of the command headquarters and a number of related administrative divisions. Earlier this month, administrative officials of these offices took outdoor disaster simulation training that included accompanying firefighters in on-site fire and disaster control.

▶ Gyeonggi Province Fire Service Academy (March 16-17)

Disaster & Safety Experiential Education

It takes five of these administrative officials to maneuver a water hose that sprays water at full force. They learn how dangerous it is to pour water on a burning frying pan when they witness an explosive reaction to such an act.

▶ Fire Rescue Exercise

Officials then move on to experience entry through scorching temperatures into a building filled with smoke from a man-made fire.

▶ [PiP] Yeo Gyu-min / Chief Official, Dongducheon City Safety Headquarters

“I thought it is a simple matter to extinguish a fire. However, when I experienced it myself, it was so hot that I feared that I might die. Now I understand the importance of fire management training.”

▶ Training of Gyeonggi Provincial & Local Disaster & Safety Officials

This training event was organized by the Gyeonggi Province Disaster and Safety Headquarters for related provincial and local administrative officials.

▶ Emergency Treatment, Rescue, and Equipment Usage

More than 80 officials participated in this training event that included emergency treatment and helicopter rescue operations as well as the use of escape equipment.

▶ [PiP] Lee Nam-hui / Chief Official, GDSH Safety Cooperation Team

“We organized this training event so as to help administrative officials experience and learn how to deal with disasters effectively and safely.”

▶ On-site Disaster Training

From March 21, these officials will accompany firefighters to experience disaster control in reality. Such experiences will help the officials better understand their jobs.

Article 5. Gyeonggi Stages Crackdown on Campus Diners (160321-2)

[Anchor’s Headline] The Gyeonggi Special Judicial Police staged a crackdown on illegal food preparation and sales on university campuses, and discovered that students have been exposed to unhygienic food to an amazing extent.

▶ Canteen at University, Hwaseong City

A canteen at a university in Hwaseong (화성) City was found to be using food ingredients that had passed their expiry date almost one year ago.

▶ Crackdown on Expired Validity and Country-of-Origin Indication Violations

At a convenience store on another university campus, large amounts of expired food products were being sold, while a contracted canteen operator used fake domestic products.

▶ Lee Ui-gi / Chief Officer, Suwon Investigation Center, GSJP

“They have all kinds of excuses, saying that it was an inventory error, overlooked by mistake, the fault of an employee; an employee’s personal goods, and so on. No matter what, the owner of the premises is responsible for the safety of customers.”

▶ Establishments without Licenses Uncovered

In addition, 14 food establishments on university campuses were found to have been operating without licenses. Among them, an unlicensed pizza franchise and coffee shop amassed sales of approximately KRW 2 billion over a span of two years.

▶ 52 out of 187 Related Food Suppliers Violated Food Hygiene Law

The special judicial police also inspected 187 external food suppliers to these on-campus establishments, and found 52 violations of the Food Hygiene Law.

The judicial police confiscated 5.6 tons of illegal food on site and transferred the cases to local administrations for administrative punishments.

The judicial police will continue investigations of campus food establishments.

Article 6. Israeli Venture Capital Invests in Gyeonggi Province (160323-2)

[Anchor’s Headline] On March 22, the Yozma Group, a world-renowned Israeli venture capital enterprise, opened a business incubation center in Pangyo (판교) Techno Valley. Entitled ‘Yozma Campus’, these business startup support facilities will help new businesses grow into global enterprises.

▶ JW Nest, Pangyo Yozma Campus

For this fledgling virtual reality content development enterprise, entry into the US and Chinese markets is the key to success. Lacking appropriate resources, this company entered the Yozma Campus to receive assistance from globally experienced providers of business incubation services.

▶ [PIP] Shin Joon-woo / CEO, JW Nest

“Israel and Korea are in somewhat similar positions in terms of global economic scenes. Therefore, we can benefit from their experience for the further development of our contents and venture into wider markets…”

▶ Yozma Campus Provides Investment and International Marketing Assistances

Resident enterprises at the Yozma Campus are provided with financial and international marketing support for their growth.

▶ First Yozma Investment in Asia

The Yozma Campus is the first of its kind in Asia in which the Yozma Group has invested. It provides intensive services for business startups including investor negotiations as well as technology sharing and transfer.

▶ [PiP] Igal Erlich / Chairman, Yozma Group

“We will take them all the way until we can reach an exit. Our target is to do it in the market – non-Korean market. We believe that that’s what Korea needs, and we can do it.”

The international network of Yozma will also play an important role in developing overseas markets for resident enterprises.

▶ Gyeonggi Province Governor Nam Kyung-pil

“The Yozma Campus creates an environment for new businesses with its resources, capital and know-how, which is exactly what we aim to create.”

The Yozma Group will expand its Asian operations using the Pangyo (판교) campus as a central hub so as to help Asian businesses with high potential to grow.

Article 7. Gyeonggi’s Business Startup Base Camp Thrives (160322-2)

[Anchor’s Headline] Gyeonggi Province has been operating business startup support facilities known as ‘Base Camp’ in which resident individuals with potentially lucrative ideas are provided with customized, systematic business startup environment.

Kim (김원석) is the inventor of a traffic warning sign used by individual vehicles when stopped on the road.

Unlike ordinary triangular signs that are placed on the road far behind the stopped vehicles, this sign resembles an umbrella and is installed directly on the rear of the vehicle.

This sign is much easier to install and therefore warns other drivers more quickly.

▶ Kim Won-seok / CEP, BringYou

“It is dangerous and difficult to install a warning sign far behind the vehicle when tailing traffic is moving at 120 km per hour. This product warns other drivers and prevents secondary accidents much more quickly.”

With additional business startup support from the Gyeonggi Small and Medium Business Center, Kim was able to commercialize his idea this past January.

▶ ‘Base Camp’, an Open Business Nurturing Platform

The Base Camp provides an open platform through which to nurture businesses. Camp residents can share ideas and experiences with one another at the camp.

▶ 1,020 Individuals Benefited from Base Camp Services in 2015

Last year alone, 1,020 individuals benefited from the customized, step-by-step Base Camp programs in realizing their business ideas in both pre- and post-establishment stages.

▶ Jeon Seong-gi / Gyeonggi Small and Medium Business Center Official

“One notable achievement is that resident individuals formed a community network in which they worked together as companions instead of competing with each other.”

Gyeonggi Province will expand business startup support in cooperation with academia and related organizations.

Thank you for joining us for this week’s edition of GTV.

We look forward to seeing you again next week.