Busan Mayor Park Hyung-jun Meets with Johor State Governor of Malaysia

Discussion on Cooperation Measures Between City Hall and Johor State at 1:10 PM on the 30th

"Busan and Johor State, a Successful First Step Toward Sustained Long-Term Friendly Cooperation"

On the 30th at 1:10 PM, Mayor Park Hyung-jun of Busan met with Onn Hafiz Ghazi, the Governor of Johor State, Malaysia, at the International Protocol Room of Busan City Hall to discuss ways to develop cooperative relations between the city and Johor State.

Mayor Park Hyung-jun meets with the Governor of Johor, Malaysia.

This is the first exchange and cooperation discussion with Malaysian local government officials since Mayor Park took office. Taking this meeting as an opportunity, plans are in place to strengthen cooperation in areas such as economy, culture, and tourism in the future.

Mayor Park first stated, “Johor State borders Singapore and is an important investment destination where Korean companies are seeking to expand.” He suggested the possibility of exchanges in related fields with Johor, which is rapidly emerging as a hub for various industries including electrical and electronics, petrochemicals, medical devices, and machinery and equipment.

He also said, “In May, the ‘2024 Malaysia International Machinery Exhibition (METALTECH 2024)’ was held in Malaysia, and eight small and medium-sized machinery and manufacturing companies from the Busan area successfully concluded the event by discovering over 185 new buyers. We will continue to support companies to encourage overseas expansion and strengthen global competitiveness through various opportunities.” He added, “Johor is also gaining great attention as a hub for data centers thanks to its strategic location and stable power supply. It is an area where big tech companies such as Google and Microsoft are investing to build data centers, emerging as a data center powerhouse not only in Southeast Asia but across the continent. I look forward to active exchanges between the two cities as ‘global smart cities.’”

He further noted that Busan ranked 14th among major cities worldwide in the ‘Global Smart City Index (SCI),’ which is 1st in Korea and 3rd in Asia, clearly reflecting Busan’s rapidly rising city brand value. To solidify the status of ‘Global Smart City Busan,’ he emphasized that various policies are being implemented in advanced technology fields such as artificial intelligence (AI), financial technology (fintech), and blockchain.

In response, Onn Hafiz Ghazi, Governor of Johor State, said, “I am well aware of Busan’s remarkable development as a ‘global smart city.’ If possible, I would appreciate it if you could share various secrets and policy directions unique to Busan.”

Mayor Park also explained, “Busan was introduced by The New York Times as one of the ‘5 Cities with Beautiful Beaches,’ and the global consulting firm Resonance selected Busan among the ‘Top 100 Cities in the World to Live, Work, and Travel,’ enhancing its reputation as a ‘tourism city’ over the past two years.”

“Johor State is also known as one of the most popular travel destinations in Malaysia with abundant tourism resources. I hope the two cities will continuously cooperate based on their strengths in tourism to grow together. I believe the Governor’s visit to Busan this time will be a successful first step toward maintaining a long-term friendly cooperative relationship between Busan and Johor State,” he concluded the meeting.

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