Korea Capitalizing on APEC 2005 to Raise Its Own Brand and Profile
- KoreaOs APEC 2005 Calendar

Korea's Year of APEC (Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation) is being ushered in as the country is scheduled to officially hold the first Senior Officials' Meetings and other related meetings next month as the chair and host country of APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting slated for November in Busan.
The nation will be thrust into the global limelight as about 5,000 to 6,000 people, including leaders of the 21 member nations, government representatives, businessmen and journalists arrive in Busan to participate in the 2005 APEC Summit on Dec. 18-19.
Ambassador Choi Jong-moo, executive director of the Preparatory Office for APEC 2005, said, "The 2005 APEC will serve as a good opportunity to improve Korea's brand to the world as it plays host to the biggest event to be held in the next 10 years."
In reality, Korea, one of the founding members of the APEC, has played an active role in the APEC forum. The nation initiated the creation of the ministerial conference composed of 12 countries, and also hosted the third conference in 1991, when the Seoul Declaration, equivalent to the APEC Charter, was adopted. Making preparations for hosting APEC 2005, for the second time in 14 years, Korea hopes to make APEC 2005 "a forum to gain a new momentum," Amb. Choi said. Korea has decided the theme of APEC 2005 as "Towards One Community: Meet the Challenge, Make the Change." Korea will continue, without any pause, the efforts that the current and the previous host economies have made to build one economic community in the Asia-Pacific region. In order to give strong thrust to this theme, three sub-themes were selected to showcase key areas where APEC needs to focus its efforts.
The first of the three sub-themes is, "Renew the commitment to Bogor Goals." At the 1994 APEC Leaders' Meeting in Bogor, Indonesia, member economies agreed on an ambitious goal of achieving free and open trade and investment by 2010 for developed members and by 2020 for developing member economies. The year 2005 will witness APEC stocktake its progress toward the Bogor Goals, and hopefully, identify a roadmap as a result of the review.
The second sub-theme is, "Ensure Transparent and Secure Business Environment." APEC will redouble its efforts in fighting for a clean and safe economic environment in the Asia Pacific region. It will be in unity to strenuously fight corruption and terrorism and to secure a safe trade environment throughout the region based on its firm belief that this will, in the end, render direct benefits for business people by lowering transaction costs.
The third sub-theme is, "Build bridges over differences." APEC members will discuss ways to facilitate community-building process given a wide spectrum of both economic development and cultural diversity. Economic and technical cooperation, in particular mutual collaboration in capacity building activities, will be a key to achieving common prosperity. Further facilitation in understanding each other beyond economic areas such as culture will eventually lower trade barriers by dismantling psychological and emotional barriers.
Such topics as establishment of a roadmap for realization of the Bogor Goals, support for adoption of the Doha Development Agenda (DDA) of the World Trade Organization (WTO), pursuit of co-prosperity through on a knowledge-based infrastructure and reforming APEC are likely to be put on the APEC 2005 agenda. The agenda is also expected to include ways to counter natural disasters such as Tsunamis, which recently caused much devastation in Southeast Asia, Amb. Choi said.
"In the past, doubts arose over the possibility whether the APEC could evolve into an economic community in that the Asia-Pacific is too wide to cover geographically and such developing countries as Papua New Guinea as well as developed countries coexist," he said. APEC has now turned into a forum full with practical talks that influence the course of major polices, unlike the rather ceremonious Asia-Europe Meeting.
APEC is an international summit in which heads of state of such powerful countries as the United States, Japan, Russia and China get together. Chinese President Hu Jintao is expected to participate in APEC 2005 as usual, not Prime Minster Wen Jiabao, in consideration of the significance of the forum, he said.
In 2003, APEC member economics as a whole made up 57 percent of the world's gross domestic product (GDP), 46 percent of total world trade and 45 percent of total world population. Most APEC member economies are major investors in Korea. Korea itself depends on the APEC area for nearly 70 percent of its total trade.
In aspects other than the economic front, APEC 2005 is significant to South Korea as all leaders of the countries participating in the six-party multilateral talks on the North Korean nuclear standoff, except North Korea, are to be present at the forthcoming APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting. President Roh Moo-hyun is expected to seek support for ensuring peace on the Korean Peninsula and improve inter-Korean relations in capacity as the chair of APEC 2005 Summit, Amb. Choi said.
APEC 2005 is a virtually yearlong process in which some 20 working-level meetings and ministerial and other conferences will be held in the run-up to the 2005 APEC Summit in Busan.
According to the finalized calendar for APEC 2005, the first Senior Officials' Meeting, and related meetings scheduled for Feb. 22-March 4, will be the first one of a series of some 20 working-level meetings and ministerial meetings to be held in Korea. The venues of the 20 pre-summit meetings have been spread across the nation, not concentrated in one location. For instance, the 28th Industrial Science and Technology Working Group will be held in Gwangju, March 14-18; SOM II and related meetings, in Jeju May 21-31; the 9th Agricultural Technical Cooperation Working Group, in Daejeon, June 14-17; Youth Festival, in Seoul and Gangwon Province, and Small and Medium Enterprise Ministerial Meeting, in Daegu Sept. 1-2.
Splitting of venues of the pre-APEC summit meetings to several provincial areas is aimed at having the Korean people, particularly those in regional cities, get firsthand international sense of globalization as well as raise a public understanding of APEC, said Amb. Choi, adding that the move is in keeping with the Participatory Government's national goals of ensuring decentralization and balanced national development.
Amb. Choi said, "Given the reality that globalization and market-opening measures are the unavoidable trend of the times, the general public needs to keep up with the times and have a better understanding of international developments. It is necessary for Korea to reduce social costs stemming from such activities as demonstrations by the people who put up opposition against the opening of the local rice market and Korea's first free trade agreement with Chile." A dispute that ensued in the parliamentary approval of Korea's FTA pact with China almost scuttled the deal, even though the pact is imperative in consideration of global trends.

Preparations for making APEC 2005 a success
In preparation for Korea's hosting of APEC 2005, the Preparatory Office for APEC 2005 has been operational since last Sept. 19 when it was established under the umbrella of the Preparatory Committee for APEC 2005, headed by the Prime Minister. A special corps was established last Jan. 1 at Cheong Wa Dae to ensure security during APEC 2005.
The Preparatory Office for APEC 2005 has unveiled the emblem for the forum under the concept, "APEC: Co-prosperous Open Community." The emblem symbolizes Korea's traditional Tri-Taeguk mark, which represents the unity and harmony of heaven, earth and man. Visualizing the powerful wave of Busan, the venue for the APEC 2005 Summit, the emblem captures the image of the Pacific Ocean, encircled by APEC member economies.
BEXCO is now undergoing a facelift to accommodate the first session of the 2005 APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting and other events. BEXCO has already gained global recognition as an advanced convention and exhibition facility as it hosted such mega-events as the World Cup Draw in 2001 and the ITU Telecom Asia 2004.
A new structure, designed to hold the second APEC summit meeting, is under construction at Dongbaek Island. The new facility, slated for completion in the coming September, promises to serve as a prominent retreat for participating global leaders, boasting the breath-taking scenery of the surrounding environ.
As it comes to lodging facilities, Busan has enough hotel rooms, mostly commanding a scenic landscape, but some of them are now being converted into suites designed to accommodate the VIPs of APEC 2005.
Korea plans to strut its stuff during the APEC summit meetings by featuring cultural events containing the essence of the Korean cultural heritage combined with advanced IT technologies.
On top of appreciating Korean cultural events, the participants of APEC 2005 will be given an opportunity to get a glimpse into the latest developments of the local IT industry, touted as one of the world's IT powerhouses.
Amb. Choi said with each visit to Busan per month, he discovers that Korea's southernmost port city is brimming with rising public awareness and civilian voluntary participation in the preparations for hosting APEC 2005.
Busan, itself, is putting quite a lot of energy into raising its global profile and capitalizing on the business aspects of the forum.
The metropolis, a center of trade in the Pacific-rim area, envisages a Northeast Asian hub of tourism and logistics, as the city will eventually be linked with Eurasia by road or rail in the future in addition to its geographic vantage point to the sea. In this respect, Busan offers much for foreign investors, as the city is working on such mega-projects as the construction of the New Busan Port within the Free Economic Zone.
Busan is also one of the nation's most dynamic metropolises with many diverse natural attractions and spectacular international regional events, such as the Pusan International Film Festival (PIFF). nw