South Chungcheong Province Gov. Kim Tae-heum promised the voters to become a “salesperson” for the province when he ran for office two years ago, pledging to revitalize the region’s sluggish economy hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic and prolonged outflow of its young population.
Rather than clinging only to the Korean market, the governor looked abroad to find more venturous partners interested in the region’s potential since he was elected to the post.
“It was a long journey,” Kim said in a written interview with The Korea Times.
“I have flown about 120,000 kilometers to visit 38 cities in 18 countries since I assumed the office. The distance is equivalent to traveling around the earth three times, all in the pursuit of finding ideal partners for South Chungcheong Province.”
In May, Kim visited the 2024 Viva Technology, Europe’s largest start-up and technology show where 160,000 people from 160 countries visited. He also participated in the Korea Expo event that opened two days after Viva Technology’s opening event in the same venue at Paris Porte de Versailles in France.
Through the two events, Kim hosted 61 meetings with venture capital, retail investors, and tech firms. He said the provincial office managed to bag 토토 a total of $3 million in investments in South Chungcheong Province as well as clinch export deals worth $340,000 for the region’s local companies.
Last month, Kim also visited the Netherlands to strengthen the province’s foothold in export, attract investment and learn about the country’s advanced smart farming technology.
The South Chungcheong Province attracted 312 billion won ($240 million) investment jointly from smart farming giant SHS and cold chain logistics solution provider Newcold on June 13.
He also visited the GreenTech Amsterdam, the world’s largest agriculture technology exhibition, with officials of small- and medium-sized firms in the province to introduce his plan to foster smart farming technologies at the Chungnam Global Horti Complex.
Built on a 75.8-hectare site, the complex is Korea’s largest smart farming cluster.
During the exhibition, Kim also signed a memorandum of understanding with the Netherlands’ largest agriculture tech institution Wageningen University for the two sides’ cooperation to advance smart agriculture in South Chungcheong Province.
The Netherlands’ Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality Special Envoy Frederik Vossenaar also joined the signing ceremony on the day.