Press release from 26.02.2008
North Rhine-Westphalia honors Korea representative Kim Hung Hyon for his 20 years of service
- Kim has rendered outstanding services to business settlement and foreign trade in North Rhine-Westphalia
- Korean market opened for North Rhine-Westphalian business
- Direct investments from Korea in North Rhine-Westphalia have risen
Düsseldorf, 26 February 2008 – As part of a Dialog Dinner, State Secretary Dr. Jens Baganz is today honoring Kim Hung Hyon for his 20 years of service on behalf of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. Since 1988, the Korean has supported NRW.INVEST in Seoul with the development of the Korean market for North Rhine-Westphalian companies and with the counselling and acquisition of Korean investors.
Today, there are over 60 Korean companies based in North Rhine-Westphalia. These include such renowned firms as the LG Group with its German head office in Willich, its research center in Neuss, and a test and distribution center for cellular telephones in Düsseldorf; Hwacheon Machinery Europe in Ratingen, DOOSAN, Korea's largest mechanical engineering company with its European head office in Langenfeld; POSCO, the world's fourth-largest steel trading company in Düsseldorf; and Hyosung, one of the largest Korean conglomerates, which took over parts of AgfaFoto in Leverkusen. "Many of these firms were acquired and looked after from the outset by NRW.INVEST with the support of Mr. Kim", says State Secretary Baganz in appreciation.
Kim has also rendered outstanding services to the foreign trade of North Rhine-Westphalia. In the 1990s he succeeded in establishing North Rhine-Westphalian environmental technology in Korea. In the segment for waste incineration plants, for example, companies from North Rhine-Westphalia accounted for around 50 percent of the Korean market.
Besides concentrating on the environment, Kim has concerned himself with the close cooperation between the two countries in the field of energy. "Kim maintains close contacts to the state energy institute Korea Energy Management Corporation (KEMCO). Over the last few years alone, 28 energy-focused Korean delegations organized by him visited the energy state of North Rhine-Westphalia. These visits and the cultivation of relations played a large part in Korea's passing a law in 2002 which was comparable to the German Renewable Energy Sources Act", says NRW.INVEST Managing Director Petra Wassner, praising Kim's outstanding achievements. Companies based in North Rhine-Westphalia such as SMA Technology, Scheuten Solar and Deutsche Solar were able to benefit from this and are now highly successful in the solar energy segment in Korea. In addition to his commitment to the environment and energy, Kim has been active on behalf of the nano and microstructure industry in North Rhine-Westphalia since 2006. The first contact networks have already been established and workshops held here.
In 1997, Kim received the Order of Merit of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia for his services to the development of relations between the Federal Republic of Germany, particularly the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, and South Korea. In 1995, Kim established the Korean-German Environmental Technician Exchange Association (KOGETEA), which promotes the exchange between young engineers from Korea and Germany in cooperation with InWEnt and is also a founder member of the DKW (Deutsch-Koreanischer Wirtschaftskreis = German-Korean Business Community). As an author, he has published a book about his experiences in Germany, as well as several other publications whose aim is to foster a better understanding between the two countries.
Further Info:
Annette Peis, Press and PR
Telefon: +49 (0) 211-130 00 162
E-Mail: Peis@nrwinvest.com
NRW.INVEST GmbH
Economic Development Agency
of the German State of North Rhine-Westphalia
Völklinger Str. 4
40219 Düsseldorf
