World Korean Business Convention Means More Than Just Exchanges
- The third convention saw a 30 percent rise in participants

More than 1,500 overseas Korean businesspersons gathered for their third annual meeting in Jeju Island late last month with the goal of creating a Korean economic community network. The just-ended gathering of overseas Korean business leaders has offered more than just their annual fraternity and exchanges. The 3rd World Korean Business Convention wrapped up its annual two-day session on Oct. 28 with 1,550 registered participants, a 30 percent surge from last year's 1,263. If those who accompanied the business leaders are counted, the aggregate number of participants surpassed 1,700 during the meeting.
What's representing a strikingly difference from the two previous annual meetings? The latest gathering has established itself as a business opportunity arena of launching new projects on top of promoting exchanges among members. Domestic businessmen had applied for business negations with the participating overseas Korean businessmen before the World Korean Business Convention was officially opened, The number of cases holding negotiations topped 100, double as many as the second annual meeting, earning the annual gathering for overseas Korean businessmen a good opportunity for expanding business transactions abroad.
In particular, one-on-one business meetings, local autonomous bodies' investor relations sessions and corporate exhibitions, the three highlights of the 3rd World Korean Business Convention, were considerably brisk with a larger than expected attendance.
The convention also featured a variety of events reminding overseas Korean businesspersons of nostalgic feelings of their native country and compatriotism. The overseas Korean businesspersons participated in a walk, followed by making a large-scale bibimbap, a traditional Korean cuisine with boiled rice mixed with diverse vegetables, showing an event of showing solidarity among them, and a tangerine-eating contest. The Convention is an international business convention organized to strengthen a global network of Korean businesspeople, or called Hansang in Korean and expanding the influence of Korean enterprises, thus helping realize the goal of developing Korea as an economic hub of Northeast Asia and raising the per capita national income to $20,000.
The Overseas Koreans Foundation (OKF), the organizer of the 3rd World Korea Business Convention has strived to consolidate a foundation for overseas Korean communities. To this end, the foundation holds the annual World Korea Business Convention every year since 2002. The purpose of the Hansang network is to develop integrated networks for the Korean economy in such sectors as commerce, trade, IT, venture and science and technology by connecting among the networks of ethnic Koreans and between overseas and domestic networks, through which overseas and local businesspersons expand market presence by exchanging information on markets and services.
Overseas Korean businesspersons suffered difficulties in the process of preparing the First World Korea Business Convention in 2002, but the inaugural Convention turned out to be a success with an overwhelming participation and concern on the part of overseas and local Korean businesspersons. The First World Korea Business Convention, held in the Lotte Hotel in downtown Seoul between Oct. 8 and Oct. 10, 2002, attracted 968 businesspersons from 28 countries, including 116 businesspeople from Korea. Overseas Koreans negotiated domestic investments worth $30 million.
The Second World Korea Business Convention, based on the achievements made during the initial Convention, has evolved into a business-oriented one: opening a new chapter of expanding the business networking to include ethnic Korean businesspersons in Japan and enhancing business exchanges between overseas and domestic Korean businesspersons. The Second World Korea Business Convention, held at the COEX in southeastern Seoul between Oct. 6 and Oct. 8, 2003, had 1,263 participants from 40 countries, including 326 people from Korea. Overseas Koreans had consultations on investments worth a total of $100 million.
The Third World Korea Business Convention focused on the establishment of business relationships across various industrial sectors by systemizing one-on-one business meetings and IR activities. Besides, a key highlight of the upcoming gathering was a special plenary session featuring economists, academicians, and Hansang experts to provide a comprehensive perspective of the 'Hansang Vision and Agenda' for the future. nw