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Daily Busan

A conversation from the Invest Korea Summit 2023

 

Invest Korea Summit 2023 ran from Nov. 6 to 8. The conference began in 2006 and has become Korea’s largest event to attract foreign investment. Busan hosted the summit for the first time as it promoted its bid to host the World Expo 2030. The host city will be selected at the end of this month.

Approximately 1,000 people from around the world gathered at BEXCO to attend the event. Participants viewed cutting-edge technologies and discussed potential avenues of investment.

Daily Busan sat down with Fama Ndiaye, the CEO of Agaskin and Kworld Media, and Per Stenius, the vice chairperson of the European Chamber of Commerce in Korea.

Q. Please tell me about your experience in Busan so far. 

Mr. Stenius: Busan is fantastic. Yes, very nice. 

Ms. Ndiaye: So far, this event has been really interesting. I actually went a couple of years ago to Invest Korea in Seoul, but I think this one is better. 

Q. What makes you think that? 

Ms. Ndiaye: I think usually, when it's in Seoul, everything is so crowded. It's very tiny here, so we can see the booth really nicely, and I learned a lot of things too. So this is better. 

 

Q. What do you think about the investment environment in Busan? 

Ms. Ndiaye: I learned a lot. I focused mainly on cultural content and K-beauty, but it was really nice to see that there are possibilities to do partnerships with different parts. For me, it was a good trip. 

Mr. Stenius: Well, I mean, at least this conference is very nice. Of course, there are other regions here as well, but I think Busan is very attractive. So, yeah, I think it's probably very good. 

Q. What should Busan do to attract more foreign investors? 

Mr. Stenius: Well, it looks like Busan is already doing quite a lot. I mean, I think Busan is already very active with the Expo and everything. So maybe we should wait for some results now. 

Q. As you may know, Busan is currently making efforts to host the World Expo 2030. In your view, do you think Busan can successfully host the World Expo?

Ms. Ndiaye: I guess if Busan keeps having these kinds of well-organized events, yes. 

Mr. Stenius: Yeah, of course. It's a big investment and it's heavy competition, but I think Busan is doing a good job. Busan is marketing it very effectively.