“Councilman David Oh creates global opportunities for Philadelphia by meeting with the Speaker of the
National Assembly of South Korea and hosting a day-long visit from the Mayor of Incheon”
Philadelphia, PA—May 17, 2012– City Councilman At-Large David Oh continues his relentless pursuit of raising the international profile of Philadelphia for the purpose of attracting employers and investors to create new jobs in the city.
As part of this initiative, on May 16, 2012, Councilman Oh hosted Mayor Young-gil Song of Incheon Metropolitan City along with fourteen delegates from South Korea for a day-long visit to Philadelphia. Just into his fifth month in office he is hard at work building relationships with international CEOs and high level dignitaries alike.
“I was very excited and pleased to host the Mayor of Incheon and the Korean delegation where I had the opportunity to showcase some of what Philadelphia has to offer” said Councilman Oh.
During the day-long visit, the Korean delegation was shuttled around the city to a variety of events, in this order:
* A ceremonial meeting with Mayor Michael Nutter
* Lunch with City Council President Darrell Clarke and other members of Council
* A business reception at the Art Museum
* A Lecture by Mayor Young-gil Song at the Lauder Institute of Management and International Studies at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania
* A reception for City and State elected officials along with representatives from Philadelphia’s Korean community at the Union League
“The City of Philadelphia was delighted to welcome Mayor Song and the delegation from Incheon, and I’d like to thank Councilman Oh for his leadership in the Global Opportunities Committee,” said Mayor Michael A. Nutter. “Philadelphia not only has a strong business relationship with South Korea, but we also have a vibrant and growing Korean population, which will continue to reinforce this relationship. I have made a call for all Philadelphians to be ambassadors for our city while promoting their businesses abroad in Harrisburg, Washington or in Seoul. We are always delighted to welcome visitors by being ambassadors even at home.”
Preceding the visit by the delegation from Incheon, on Tuesday, May 8th Councilman Oh traveled to the Korean Consulate in New York City for a meeting with Eui-kwa Chung, Speaker of the National Assembly of South Korea; similar to the Speaker of the House here in the U.S., and Korean Ambassador Young-mok Kim. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss opportunities for promoting Philadelphia as a globally competitive city where Korean companies can establish North American operations.
Councilman Oh is the Chairman of City Council’s committee on Global Opportunities and the Creative/Innovative Economy. According to Oh, “My job as the Chairman of this committee is to build relationships with elected officials and companies from around the world to promote Philadelphia as a globally competitive city. Incheon is a city of 2.8 million people, an international free trade zone and almost 20,000 manufacturing jobs.
This is the type of city that we need to align ourselves with.” The notion of raising the international profile of Philadelphia does not stop with Councilman Oh. City Council President Darrell Clarke has been very supportive of his efforts as well.
“Councilman Oh’s enthusiasm for pitching the City of Philadelphia as a global business destination is contagious,” said Council President Darrell L. Clarke. “I was excited to welcome Incheon Mayor Song and the rest of the delegation from Korea to show them Philly is the perfect place to develop, manufacture, and innovate.”
To date, Councilman Oh has gotten out throughout the city meeting with community groups, businesses small and large, and a variety of dignitaries with laser-like focus on something very important to him – promoting Philadelphia for the purpose of creating good-paying, family-sustaining jobs.
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Incheon Metropolitan City is a city of 2.7 million people with the world’s busiest and 2nd largest airport, a trade free zone, bustling seaport, more than 19,000 manufacturing companies and a newly constructed high-tech, international business district which cost $40 billion.
