Park Won-soon, First Local Government Head to Deliver Speech Invited by US Chamber of Commerce

'Today Is the Right Time to Invest in the Korean Peninsula' Topic
Emphasizing Seoul's Investment Competitiveness
Meeting with Congressman Andy Kim and Mayor Muriel Bowser

[Asia Economy Reporter Hyunju Lee] Park Won-soon, Mayor of Seoul, became the first domestic local government head to deliver a speech at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce on the 14th (local time).

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is the world's largest business organization with over 3 million member companies.

Under the theme "Today is the right time to invest in the Korean Peninsula," he introduced Seoul's economic policies and philosophy, including fostering innovative startups based on talent, emphasizing Seoul's investment competitiveness. Seoul's foreign direct investment exceeded $10 billion by the end of last year, up from $3.9 billion in 2011. To create a city attracting investors worldwide, the city has designated itself as a "Foreign Investment Zone" and plans to continuously implement foreign investment-friendly systems such as operating a one-stop help desk.

The speech took place at a roundtable held at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in Washington D.C. under the theme "Global Challenges and Regional Solutions." After the speech, discussions continued with key figures on ways for local governments to collaborate with the private sector to solve urban issues and realize innovation-friendly policies such as utilizing technology.

After the visit, Mayor Park met with Andy Kim, the first Korean-American elected as a Democratic U.S. federal House Representative, and also held talks with Muriel Bowser, Mayor of Washington D.C., Seoul's sister city. Subsequently, he had consecutive meetings with Democratic U.S. Senator Bob Menendez and U.S. Representative Ami Bera.

Mayor Park said, "It was a meaningful opportunity to inform important partners in the U.S. economic and administrative sectors about Seoul's competitiveness," adding, "We will continue to evolve and promote innovative economic policies so that Seoul is recognized as a hub of challenge and innovation where global innovators gather."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.