Seoul city's mayor Park Won-soon has returned from his 8-day trip to Europe and the Middle East.
He's been promoting the South Korean capital and trying to attract investment, as well as looking at innovative ways to improve the lives of Seoul's citizens.
Won Jung-hwan reports.
The keyword for this trip was 'innovative startups',… one of the main tasks that Seoul's mayor has on its mind to foster economic growth.
Mayor Park Won-soon visited three cities to build partnerships and learn the latest in innovative policies.
His first stop was Abu Dhabi where he worked on a concrete plan for the 'upcycle landmark' scheme,… which the two cities agreed to cooperate on last February.
The scheme aims to build city-to-city partnerships on the issue of environmental sustainability, particularly focusing on fine dust.
Park then headed to London, one of the world's main finance hubs,… which is home to more than 5-thousand financial services companies.
His visit came during the city's FinTech Week,… a weeklong series of events and discussions on finance-related issues such as Brexit, artificial intelligence, and investment.
Seoul's mayor spoke to more than 100 representatives of financial services corporations in Britain, inviting them to invest in Korea.
While laying out his plans to further develop the fintech industry in Seoul's finance hub, Yeouido,… he proposed funding to help international financial services companies establish branch offices in Seoul.
Financial services companies with more than four employees that are able to attract more than 85-thousand U.S. dollars of investment can apply for free office space at the hub.
For the final stop on his trip, Park visited Israel, one of the world leaders in innovative startup businesses,… to have talks with CEOs of global IT venture capital companies such as the Yozma Group.
He asked for advice on policy roadmaps to make Seoul a more innovative city,… while planning for cooperation between Israeli firms and firms stationed in Seoul.
And to help make all this happen,… the Seoul Metropolitan Government signed a memorandum of understanding with the largest city and financial center of Israel, Tel Aviv on Monday to better promote friendship and cooperation between the two cities.
Through his trip to Abu Dhabi, London and Tel Aviv,… Mayor Park hopes to get a better idea on how to tackle the day-to-day issues that Seoul's citizens face, and improve employment, the environment and of course,… living standards.
Won Jung-hwan, Arirang News.