Piedmont, Italy, brings designs and business experience to Korea

Features

Published: 23 Oct. 2006, 18:16

Piedmont, Italy, brings designs and business experience to Korea

Prior to the Piemonte Torino design exhibition, which opened at the Seoul Olympic Museum on Saturday and will run until Oct. 29, Mercedes Bresso, the president of the regional ministry of Piedmont, Italy, visited Korea with a delegation of around 20 companies from the region.
The overall bilateral trade between Italy and Korea as of last year totaled $7.1 billion, making Italy the third-largest trade partner for Korea in the European Union.
Acknowledging this active exchange between the two countries, Sergio Deorsola, a minister of the regional government of Piedmont, (Piemonte in Italian) speaking on behalf of Ms. Bresso on Friday in the Italian ambassador’s residence in the UN Village, said, “With this trip, we hope to introduce Piedmont to Korea and for us to get a taste of what Korea is like, in its economy and culture, in return.” Also in attendance was the new Italian ambassador to Korea, Massimo Leggeri, advisors to the regional government of Piedmont and businessmen from the region’s enterprises.
“We hope that this effort for bilateral exchange will stimulate a synergy effect,” he added. He also mentioned that this was the first large-scale, independent visit from a region in Italy to Korea.
The focus of this visit was to introduce Piemonte through its commerce, design, and biotechnology research. Starting from last week, the delegation had business meetings between small and medium-scale enterprises from both Korea and Piedmont, with Korea’s Small Business Corporation participating. “In Piedmont, there are around 100,000 small to medium-scale companies active in the economy. Also, many of these businesses are family-oriented,” said Mr. Deorsola, adding, “Piedmont has been growing with these enterprises and family-owned companies and I believe Korean enterprises of similar nature can benefit from our experience.”

There will also be a conference on biotechnologies in an effort to unite Italian and Korean professors and researchers in the field, to collaborate on future projects. The delegation also presided over the signing of a memorandum of understanding between the University of Turin and the Korea Research Institute of Bioscience and Biotechnology. Additionally, with her delegation, she took part in the inauguration of the exhibition.
The design exhibition, “Torino Design ― From Car to Spoon,” showcases around 250 products from the region which were intended for mass production, including sports utility vehicles, household electronic items, kitchenware and model automobiles.
The designs are divided into ten groups, each representing a certain sector, including automotive design, which the region is most noted for. Turin (Torino in Italian) has been recognized throughout the years as an industrial design powerhouse and this year was nominated by the International Council of Societies of Industrial Design as the world’s design capital for 2008. “The exhibition is important because it will not only show the products themselves, but will be displayed in such a way as to show the history of industrial design in Piedmont and how it developed as a central part of the economy in Piedmont and, moreover, Italy and the world,” said Luigi Ricca, an advisor to the regional government of Piedmont.

by Cho Jae-eun

“Torino Design ― From Car to Spoon” will be held until Oct. 29 at the Seoul Olympic Museum in Bangi district, eastern Seoul. The nearest subway station is Mongchontoseong, line No. 8, exit 1. For more information, call (02) 410-1051 or visit www.88som.or.kr.