President Kim Attracts Investment

On 8 March (Korean time) President Kim Dae-jung disclosed that Italian, French, and German companies have decided to invest a total of $5.1 billion in Korea on the occasion of his visit to Europe.
At a meeting with Korean residents in Paris, he said, "Europe evaluates Korea a good nation to invest in. Italy has promised to invest $1 billion and France $2.1 billion, and Germany is expected to invest $2 billion."
On the afternoon of March 8, President Strube of BASF AG, a German chemical company, met President Kim and revealed that BASF will invest an additional $400 million in Korea over a four-year period to expand production in plastics, special chemicals, and textiles.
President Kim arrived in Frankfurt on March 8, embarking on a three-day visit to Germany as a state guest. In a speech for German businesspeople at the Frankfurt Chamber of Commerce and Industry, he emphasized, "I will introduce an ombudsman system to quickly solve difficulties facing foreign businesspeople. If foreigners have problems investing in Korea, I am willing to do everything I can to improve the investment environment."
President Kim went on to say, "We will overhaul everything to meet international standards - corporate accounting, banking practices, and trade customs. We have already introduced measures to liberalize capital movement, to dramatically open real estate, bond, and stock markets, and to reduce the business areas barred for foreign investors. We will make Korea the most attractive Asian nation to invest in."
On the afternoon of March 9, President Kim will meet Prime Minister Gerhard Schroeder in Berlin. The two heads of state will discuss various issues, including the project to build a Eurasian high-speed telecommunications network and plans to expand economic cooperation.

by Kim Jin-kook