Interview: Mr. Erwin Stouthamer, Principal, Composition Capital Partners,

In the 2009 PERE LP Survey, Composition Capital Partners BV is the only General Partner listed as particularly admired for its thorough work and transparent communication The company has an extensive network in Europe, Asia and the US, built up over a period of twelve years. The members have strong direct real estate experience and in addition to their network, bring a broad range of skills in deal structuring, due diligence and investment monitoring. The cultural diversity of the company not only provides it with local insights, but also helps us better appreciate and understand the cultural and behavioral aspects of the markets.
Mr. Erwin Stouthamer, Principal, Composition Capital Partners:

>>Composition Capital Partners is a real estate investment management company which was founded in 2005. Prior to establishing the company, our senior management had been investing in US, European and Asian real estate markets on behalf of a large Dutch pension fund for over a decade. We specialize exclusively in Fund of Funds real estate investment structures investing with local operators through joint ventures, club deals, secondary transactions and (smaller) funds. In this way, our investors can access a real estate portfolio which is diversified in terms of managers, strategies, real estate sectors and locations. Compositions Asia Fund I was the first Fund of Funds to be launched in Asia. Our company currently works with 20 institutional investors from Asia, Europe and the US.
We have chosen to operate as a private and independent boutique firm. Our company is owned by four principals and employs 17 people in Hong Kong and Amsterdam. We are proud to have an experienced international professional team dedicated to providing a high quality of service to meet investors needs. Composition was recognized in the Private Equity Real Estate Limited Partner Survey 2009 (PERE LP Survey 2009) for their thorough work and transparent communication
Composition values its relationships with its investors and investment partners. We believe in taking the time to understand our investors requirements & ambitions and in maintaining open relationships & dialogues. We have created a substantial network of potential investment partners through our active local presence and visibility in individual real estate markets. We again believe in taking the time to understand fully the ambitions and motivations of investment partners to ensure the needs of our investors are realized. Our company has held positions on the boards of various real estate industry bodies, including Inrev, the European counterpart of Anrev, the Asian private equity real estate industry platform.
>>Our investment strategy has always been to work with the best in class local partners in accessing the best real estate deals, with a focused mandate involving clearly identified investment, operation and divestment parameters and strategies, with suitable risk management in securing returns for our investors.
With our local teams and knowledge of the markets, we believe the markets in Asia and Europe offer diverse opportunities with different time horizons and risk exposures. In many markets access to debt has become harder for many players, which we see as a great opportunity. For example, we recently have invested into recapitalization strategies in Germany and Japan involving preferred equity positions in mezzanine type arrangements where capital structures are frozen. We also have invested in value-add opportunities in the UK and Hong Kong, involving refurbishment, repositioning and stabilization of assets to yielding products for core type buyers.
>>Our company was founded on over a decade of experience and an extensive network of personal contacts in international real estate investment markets. We capitalized on this initial solid base of experience and personal contacts to build a source of reliable managers and deals for our investors. We have always believed in accessing local platforms with strong teams, alignment, deal-sourcing and execution, so maintain close contact with the local real estate markets we invest in on behalf of our clients. We believe our proximity and understanding of local managers makes us better placed to select the quality managers on behalf of our investors.
Composition has been in the Fund of Funds market since this market's inception. Our sole activity since being founded has been management of Fund of Funds. We are one of the few independent managers with a dedicated and focused product in the market. Our Asia I fund, headed by Composition's Director, Bill Shaw in Hong Kong, was the first Asia real estate Fund of Funds on launch, in 2005. Our employees, representing 10 different nationalities, have a wealth of experience in real estate development, asset management, private equity, research & consulting, and institutional investment.
We are also unique in that we have taken the lead and seed investor role in several established local platforms in fund and joint venture structures. We are one of the earlier players working in direct partnerships with local players, taking a very active role in structuring platforms with our partners and also in working closely with them through to exit stages. We believe our partners appreciate our local knowledge and resources, where our input is respected and where we sit on the advisory boards of all of our investments.
>>Composition has been investing in Korea through our fund of funds platform since 2005. Prior to the establishment of Composition, various principals and employees had been actively involved in Korea in previous roles as early as 1998. We believe the long term fundamentals of the Korean economy and its real estate markets offer interesting opportunities for our investors. We already participate in a Korea-only fund vehicle and, in addition to other potential fund investments; we are currently considering joint ventures and co-investments in Korea. We are especially attracted to the value-add opportunities which involve the repositioning, refurbishment, and stabilization of both office and commercial assets that can yield an attractive return to our investors, and upon exit, to core/core-plus buyers.
In additional to our investment activities in the Korean real estate markets, Composition is exploring opportunities to provide Korean institutional investors access to both Asian and European markets as investors in our Fund of Funds.

Read more »

Interview: Mr. Jeremy Stewardson, Executive Director, ANREV

The Asian Association for Investors in Non-listed Real Estate Vehicles (ANREV) is the sister organisation to INREV in Europe. It seeks to generate increased levels of liquidity within the Asian private real estate fund market through promoting greater transparency, accessibility, professionalism and standards of best practice. As a regional body, it strives to provide a platform for the sharing and dissemination on the non-listed real estate fund market.
ANREV now has 57 member companies in eight countries. ANREV’s agenda is driven by the members, in particular the investors, and is focused on improving transparency and accessibility of market information, promoting professionalism and best practices, sharing and spreading knowledge.
The objectives are being achieved through implementing research projects such as the Investment Intentions Asia Survey, an Asian vehicles database as well as through promoting industry standards and sharing best practice through regular events.
ANREV membership is dominated by Institutional Investors and supported by fund managers, investment banks and other real estate market participants.
In January this year, Mr. Jeremy Stewardson was appointed as Executive Director of the Association. He has held various senior positions in the Asian and European commercial real estate markets, since starting with Jones Lang Wootton in Hong Kong in 1978. After 23 years with the international property consultancy in it’s Hong Kong, London, Berlin, Frankfurt and Bangkok offices, he undertook a number of Asian commercial property roles, latterly as Chief Executive of the managers of Champion REIT, Hong Kong’s second largest Trust. Mr. Stewardson is a Fellow of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors.
Excerpts of interview:
>>ANREV is a non-profit association of institutional investors in private property funds . It draws it’s membership from Pension Funds , Insurance companies , Sovereign funds and Family offices , their Fund Managers and Service Providers . It is related to INREV in Europe . It’s members get together to transfer industry knowledge and best practice – all this with the aim of improving transparency in the global industry and hence accessibility for further investors .
>>For us , Korea is one of the key Asian markets . Along with Australia , Japan, Hongkong and Singapore , it has become an important pension fund and insurance industry participant . To ensure sustainable investment return levels , the Korean industry is now looking to overseas property markets as well as it’s own , just as the Dutch industry did 25 years ago . By the same token , other global pension and insurance industries are diversifying into the Korean market .
So our role is to contribute to improving communications , understanding and standards in global markets for our members , to facilitate sustainable cross-border investment accessibility .
>>There are 3 legs to our Associations out put . Firstly, Research: we research our industry , the participants , the products , the volumes ,the flows and the issues and feed the analysed results back to our members . We will be launching our on-line database of non-listed property funds in Asia later this year – this database is being developed along the lines of the INREV database in Europe .
Secondly : best practice standards . We promulgate the INREV-produced Guidelines for Fund establishment and management around Asia Pacific , with supplements being produced to reflect different circumstances in the individual markets. We will be providing Implementation Workshops for members next year .
Thirdly : communications . We hold Roundtables, Briefings and Workshops on strategic and technical issues facing our industry in Australia, Japan , Hongkong and Singapore – Korea is being added to this circuit.

Read more »

Interview: Mr. David Martin, Head of Retail, Commercial Property,Hongkong Land Ltd.

Founded in 1889, Hongkong Land has interests across the Asian region. In Hong Kong, the Group owns and manages some five million sq. ft of prime commercial space that defines the heart of the Central Business District. In Singapore, it is helping to create the city-state's new Central Business District with the expansion of its joint venture portfolio of new developments. Hongkong Land's properties in these and other Asian centres are recognised as market leaders and house the world's foremost financial, business and luxury retail names.
Hongkong Land also develops premium residential properties in a number of cities in the
region, not least in Singapore where its 77%-owned listed affiliate, MCL Land, is a
significant developer.
Hongkong Land Holdings Limited is incorporated in Bermuda. It has a premium listing on
the London Stock Exchange, and secondary listings in Bermuda and Singapore. The Group's
assets and investments are managed from Hong Kong by Hongkong Land Limited. The company is a member of the Jardine Matheson Group.
As noted by Mr. David Martin, Head of Retail, Commercial Property,Hongkong Land Ltd., besides Hong Kong and Singapore, the company has also subtantial interest in expanding its operations in mainland Chinsa and other parts of Southeast Asia.

“The company has a very narrow focus, being interested only in high-end retail and office sites. For this reason, while we have been looking for opportunities in Seoul which is a very interesting market. All our major tenants operate in Korea. Furthermore the luxury brands market is huge, as also the financial institutions. Hopefully, we will invest soon,he said.
Within the overall commercial property portfolio of the company, retail accounts for a 20 percent, both in value and space. Specifically in Hong Kong, the share of both the retail and office space is even, he said.
Mr. Martin noted that the retail market has a huge potential in mainland China. HLL is interested in Beijing, Shanghai and other cities, but is facing difficulty in finding key sites which are generally expensive, political and in demand.
“In Hong Kong, we are hugely helped by the massive increase in mainland visitors in the past 5 years. There is growing prosperity in China and the peoples ability to shop has increased with rising incomes. This has helped the retail business and office space. Morover, many Russian and other international companies are also investing in Hong Kong, which is a very positive development.”
Speaking on HLL's performance in the first half of this year, he noted that despite ongoing economic uncertainties, demand for office and retail space in Hong Kong's Central district in the first half of 2010 was relatively robust. In addition, the Group recognised significant profits from two of its Singapore residential projects, Marina Bay Residences and Waterfall Gardens, upon their completion.
Vacancy in the Group's office portfolio in Hong Kong stood at 4.2% at 30th June 2010.
Average rents remained stable and rent reversions were largely neutral. The retail portfolio
in the Central district was fully leased.
In Singapore, there was growing demand from financial service companies for quality office
space in Marina Bay. As a result, achieved rents were relatively firm despite the new supply
of commercial space being built. Construction of the Group's joint venture development,
Marina Bay Financial Centre, continued on schedule. The first office tower is now
completed with the second due by the year end. Both towers, which comprise a total lettable
area of 159,000 sq. m., are almost fully let. Construction of a 122,000 sq. m. third tower is
underway with completion expected in 2012, of which 55% is already committed.
Marina Bay Financial Center, Singapore's first mixed-use development that successfully integrates residential, business, retail and entertainment facilities, will be fully completed in 2012. Those in the area will not only have the convenience of having 176,000 square feet of retail space at their doorsteps, they will also enjoy MBFC's connectivity, with direct access to two MRT stations via the subterranean mall. In addition, the mall offers tenants an immediate
patronage of 64,000 residents and professionals living and working within the MBFC
vicinity.
The second residential tower of the Marina Bay project, Marina Bay Suites, which will be
completed in late 2013, is selling well with almost 60% of the 221 units sold.
MBFC is being developed by a joint venture Cheung Kong (Holdings) Ltd/Hutchison Whampoa, Hongkong Land and Keppel Land, and managed by Raffles Quay Asset Management (RQAM). The tenant-centric design of this purpose-built financial centre combines the best in form and function, making it a key draw for businesses and befitting Singapore's position as a global financial hub.
MBFC offers a breathtaking blend of three distinguished office towers with nearly 3 million sq ft of Grade A office space, two residential towers comprising 649 luxury apartments and penthouses as well as approximately 176,000 sq ft of retail space to meet the daily convenience of our business community and residents.
MBFC achieved the Green Mark Gold for its office towers 1 & 2, Marina Bay Residences and Marina Bay Suites and the Green Mark Gold Plus for its office tower 3 conferred by the Building and Construction Authority of Singapore. This award recognizes the efforts made by the developers to encourage sustainable design practices, and makes MBFC one of the few developments to win more than one BCA Green Mark award.
The Group's joint venture in Jakarta commenced construction of a 61,000 sq. m., 30-storey
tower within its existing office development in the city, due for completion in 2012.
He noted that the contribution from residential property was significant during the period. The launch in February of MCL Land's project, The Estuary, was well received and all 608 units have been pre-sold. During the period, MCL Land acquired an additional site for future development.
The Serenade in Hong Kong is due to complete in the second half of the year, and
approximately a third of the apartments were sold by the end of June. The profit arising on
sale of apartments in Tower 4 of the 47%-held One Central Macau will also be recognized in
the second half. The Group has announced the launch of 92 branded apartments to be sold in
One Central Macau, which will be managed by Mandarin Oriental following the opening of
its 213-room hotel in late June.
The One Central Macau, is a groundbreaking mixed-used project for the city combining luxury residential, hotel, serviced apartment and retail facilities on a sprawling waterfront site in the scenic Nape Area.
The opening launched a new era in Macau's shopping scene as international brands opened the doors to their luxury duplex and triplex shops, all of which provide discerning shoppers in Macau with the same convenience and quality they have come to expect from CENTRAL ine Hong Kong and other fashion capitals such as New York and Paris. The list of tenants at One Central Macau includes brands like Louis Vuitton, Hermes, Gucci, Fendi, Ermenegildo Zegna, Dolce & Gabbana, Dior, Cartier, Bvlgari and Burberry, among many others. Many have opened their first, largest or flagship stores in the 400,000-square-foot, three-level shopping mall. The 200,000-square-foot site is uniquely positioned in the heart of the city on Nam Van Lake.
With a full panoramic view of the waterfront, One Central Macau comprises seven residential blocks of 32 to 38 storeys each as well as an iconic tower designed by world-famous architect Kohn Pedersen Fox, which houses the Mandarin Oriental, Macau and the most unique serviced apartments in the city. In addition to the architecturally innovative mall's prime waterfront location and impeccable list of tenants, One Central Macau is also directly linked to the MGM GRAND Macau, already an award-winning lifestyle destination.
“One Central Macau will offer shoppers the ultimate retail and lifestyle experience, with access to entertainment, fine dining, upscale residential buildings, the Mandarin Oriental Hotel and Serviced Apartments, and leading lifestyle and gaming destination MGM GRAND Macau,he said.
Another phase of the joint venture development Bamboo Grove in Chongqing comprising
261 townhouses, all but two of which have been sold, is scheduled for completion later this
year. A further 427 units, including high rise apartments to be completed in later years, were
released to the market and 254 had been sold by the end of June. In Beijing, sales continued
at Maple Place, while development work on the Group's other projects continued. Recent
government measures to dampen the market have led to reduced sales throughout the
country.
Mr. Martin noted that during the rest of the year, Hong Kong and Singapore commercial property markets should remain stable. The second half result will benefit from the completion of additional residential units although the contribution will be less than in the first half with no significant completions in Singapore.

Read more »

Interview: Mr. Oh Byung-don, Mayor of Icheon City

Located in the South-Eastern part of Gyeonggi-do, Icheon has naturally developed good plains and hilly areas of Bokhacheon and Cheongmicheon due to the Namhan River tributary.
The east-west Yeongdong Highway intersects with the center of the north-south highway. It is accessible from all directions by crossing national road 3, that connects from Seoul to Chungju, and national road 42, that connects Suwon with Yeoju, so it has a good base for manufacuting.
Also Icheon has the best quality rice in the world, peaches, which are especially big, white & sweet, soil & fire and traditional ceramic ware which has its own eternal life and the artistic spirit of craftsmen. It is also the original place of ceramic ware of the world's ceramic art, natural hot springs that fly up by the folding screen of Mt. Seolbong and Mt. Dodram and the guardian mountains of Icheon, are combined with high-tech industry, the countryside, tourism and leisure.
In an exclusive interview, Mr. oh Byung-don, Mayor of Icheon City outlines the significance of the place.

>>Icheon City features various cultural colors as well as a long history in all fields that dates back to the prehistoric times. Such fields include the political, economic, social, and cultural areas.
It belonged to Baekje (ancient kingdom located in southwest Korea) in the early three kingdom era. It became a part of Goguryeo (ancient Korean kingdom) in 475 (63rd year of King Jangsu, the 26th king of Goguryeo) and was named Namcheon-hyeon.
King Jinheung, the 24th king of the Shilla Dynasty, placed the monarch in Namcheon-ju (where the provincial government building is located today). In 936, the first emperor of Goryeo entitled the city to Later Baekje Namjeong-si (city) Icheon-gun (county).
In 1444, the 26th year of King Sejong, the city became a dohobu (local administrative body). In 1914, most of Eumjuk-gun was absorbed into Icheon-gun. On March 1, 1996, Icheon-gun was promoted to Icheon-si.
In terms of historical significance, there was a fight over the Han River basin in the three kingdom era and Icheon was at the center of the fight.
Icheon is home to many stone pagodas and stone Buddhas including the Yeongwolam-maaeyeorae-ipsang (standing status). It is a rich repository of Buddhist cultural heritage, including the Maitreya.
Six scholars who left for the countryside after Gimyo sahwa (the calamity of literati) during the Joseon Dynasty, including Kim An-guk, gathered in the area to engage in academic exchange and gave more depth to Joseon's Neo-Confucianism.
>>The vision of Icheon City is to build Icheon, a city of happiness that stands by the side of its citizens. My dream as well as the dream of Icheon citizens is to realize this vision, and to build a planned city with a population of 350 thousand.
I would like to first of all say that I will make strenuous efforts to realize this dream.
First of all, I will do my best in implementing the land development project of Majang District as well as the project involved with building a small new city that will serve as an administrative town in Joongri District. This is a key project that will bring about substantial changes in the history of development of Icheon and for which an administrative process is underway. Strenuous efforts will be made so that these projects result in a luxurious residential space.
Ten small industrial complexes, including an industrial complex in Jinam-ri, Janghowon-eup, were built as a niche strategy that overcomes regulations on metropolitan area natural preservation zones that were introduced by the fourth mayor elected by popular vote. An additional ten small industrial complexes will be built to attract 300 companies, thereby taking the lead in creating jobs and promoting the local economy.
In addition, prestigious, self-governing private high schools will be established to train local experts and the city itself will be redesigned by continually executing high-quality cultural and art activities through the Icheon Art Hall, which is being successfully operated.
>>Located less than an hour away from Seoul, the nation's capital, Icheon is an important traffic center where the Yeongdong Expressway and Jungbu Expressway meet. Icheon is about an hour away from other key cities as well including Gangwon Province and Chungcheong Province.
Thanks to its fertile soil and the developed hills and plains, Icheon offers excellent quality crops, including rice and peach. It is known for its warm-hearted and generous citizens, who unite in times of difficulty.
Icheon is home to such famous mountains as Mt. Seolbong, Mt. Wonjeok, and Mt. Noseong, and is where Cheongmi Stream and Bokha Stream, a tributary of the Namhan River, flow. The city thus has in place excellent conditions for citizens to live in and also good conditions to do business in.
Icheon City is a pleasant green city, where there exists an affluent agricultural life and a comfortable city life based on cutting-edge industries. It is a green city where citizens can enjoy high-quality culture and tourism activities in addition to outstanding specialty products.
>>As a leading city in Korea in terms of the ceramics culture, Icheon is leading trends in modern ceramics and has a rich history in the field of ceramics. It is home to well-known craftsmen such as master artisans, Icheon ceramics masters, and young, leading ceramists of Korea. It is a leading ceramics city in Korea with a complete personnel and material infrastructure such as the Icheon World Ceramic Center and Haegang Ceramics Museum.
Icheon City applied to become a member of UNESCO's Creative Cities Network in the field of crafts in order to widely publicize the city's outstanding cultural assets and to further strengthen its competitiveness. On July 20, it became the first in Korea to become a part of the network.
I believe the designation of Icheon was an extremely significant event that enhanced the city's reputation and the value of the city brand to the global level. It also proves that the cultural assets and competencies of Icheon have gained international recognition.
What is extremely encouraging is that Icheon citizens now feel a greater sense of pride and self-esteem as global cultural citizens.
Considering that UNESCO is a world-renowned organization, I believe people all across the globe will develop an entirely new view of Icheon.
By effectively leveraging Icheon's change in status, I will actively launch PR activities so that Icheon's cultural and tourism industry develops with greater speed.
>>A great number of ceramists moved to Icheon after the middle of the Joseon Dynasty period and gave birth to Korea's ceramics culture. Even now, there is a ceramics village called 'Sagimakgol' in the Saeum-dong area of Icheon.
Icheon has grown into a leader of the nation's ceramics culture. In June 2005, it was designated as a special ceramics district, thus becoming a widely-recognized, leading ceramics city of the nation.
In fact, ceramics is Icheon's indisputable No. 1 brand, so much so that people think of ceramics first when they hear the word Icheon. We are attempting to transform Icheon into a global tourist spot by more systematically and efficiently managing this brand. We are expediting the process of building the Icheon Ceramic Art Village, which involves gathering kilns that are located throughout Icheon to a single area.
In addition to resources that Icheon has had for a long time such as hot springs, ceramics, and specialty products, Icheon is developing cultural and tourism resources by effectively leveraging local conditions. The city is further strengthening the establishment of a cultural and tourism foundation by leveraging its strengths as a city located close to large cities. For example, it is moving forward with the establishment of a Ceramic Art Village, Agricultural Theme Park, Woongjin Children's Village, Baeksa Sansuyu Flower Experience Village, and a tourism complex that connects Mt. Noseong with Seongho Lake.
Icheon is increasing its reputation as a leading cultural city by holding culture and art festivals throughout the year whose themes include the Sansuyu flower, ceramics, peach, and rice, in addition to the International Sculpture Symposium in Icheon and Icheon Chunsafilm Festival. Icheon also houses the Woljeon Museum of Art Icheon and Icheon Art Hall, which further upgraded the cultural life of citizens.
>>What I believe is most important from the perspective of foreigners living in Icheon is the establishment of an environment that allows foreigners to live in harmony with the residents.
In this sense, there is a need for a project that involves joining hands with foreigners to develop policies that are closely related to foreigners' daily lives. Icheon is already implementing such a project through the Multi-cultural Center.
There is also a need for continuous and smooth execution of foreigner support services. For example, there is a need to provide administrative services or handle a wide variety of civil complaints from the perspective of foreigners and to develop multi-language information services.
As mentioned before, Icheon became the first in Korea to become a part of UNESCO's Creative Cities Network. The city will do justice to its reputation and strive to establish an advanced social integration atmosphere between foreigners and Icheon citizens.
Recently you hosted the Icheon Ceramic festival. Could you give us more details of this festival and the outcome?
The Icheon Ceramic Festival was first launched in 1987 and was held for the 24th time this year. It has developed every year, with its cumulative number of visitors exceeding 23 million. It is a leading traditional culture experience festival of Korea.
The whole family can make ceramics and experience the value and beauty of traditional Korean ceramics by taking part in a wide array of experiential, sales, and traveling programs as well as exhibitions. It is also a leading festival of Icheon that has developed into a leading icon that publicizes Korea's ceramics industry and culture throughout the world.
The Icheon Ceramic Festival was originally a part of the Solbong Cultural Festival. It continuously developed after its selection in 1998 as one of the five festivals to receive focused support by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism. In 2001, the 2001 World Ceramic Expo, the 1st World Ceramic Biennale, was held. It continued to advance forward to generate economic effects totaling 330.1 billion won in 2009, thus fully establishing itself as a leading ceramics culture festival in Korea.
The 24th Icheon Ceramic Festival was held at Seolbong Park in Icheon for 23 days from April 24 through May 16. Based on the theme 'Joyful Ceramic Trip to Icheon', the festival continued its reputation as Korea's leading ceramics festival.
The festival was assessed as providing an arena for experiencing traditional Korean ceramics by combining ceramics experience programs, design exhibitions, and events in addition to featuring a wide variety programs such as an exhibition of high-quality ceramics.
>>Icheon City is implementing various administrative support systems. An example is the creation of a taskforce team together with Gyeonggi Province to attract investments from foreign companies. The team is in charge of attracting foreign capital and is participated in by the Korea Land & Housing Corporation and Korea Electric Power Corporation.
When a foreign company wants to make an investment, Icheon helps the foreign company purchase land such as by designating a foreigner investment area pursuant to the Foreign Investment Promotion Act. It is also providing financial support to partially pay for costs incurred from setting up base facilities such as water facilities and building roads that enable easy access to national highways or subways.
Icheon also offers various tax reduction and exemption benefits such as for taxes related to the acquisition of land, including the acquisition tax, registration tax, and transfer income tax, pursuant to the Foreign Investment Promotion Act and Restriction of Special Taxation Act.
Icheon has various support systems in place, such as providing employment insurance and training subsidies in cash for a certain period when a company hires more than 20 persons based on Gyeonggi Province's investment incentive system. The city is also helping companies set up signs on expressways and national highways.
>>My plan is to focus on attracting cutting-edge business sectors related to electricity and electronics as well as R&D centers and culture and tourism-related industries such as theme parks.
>>Location conditions are an important factor in creating a good environment to do business in, but I believe a more important factor is removing 'invisible barriers' to corporate activities. This is why I set up a department at Icheon City Government to be mainly in charge of corporate support.
Icheon also has the 'public servant-company guardianship system', which involves establishing one-on-one guardian relations between a public servant and a small or mid-sized company in Icheon that has at least five employees and regularly monitoring the company's difficulties.
Difficulties experienced by companies are mostly related to receiving loans to be used as business funds, increasing the number of plants, and building an infrastructure, such as improving access roads. Icheon earmarked a budget of 1.4 billion won to implement corporate environment improvement projects last year such as to improve access roads located near companies. A total of ten projects were executed to improve the environment for 44 companies.
There is also the 'corporate field mobility team', which makes efforts to help companies with an open attitude.
Icheon City is a pleasant green city, where there exists an affluent agricultural life and a comfortable city life based on cutting-edge industries. Icheon is waiting for investors and entrepreneurs.

Read more »

Interview: Mr. Lee Kwi-nam, Minister of Justice

The Ministry of Justice serves the citizens by guarding and enforcing the Constitution and laws of the Republic. In addition to rendering legal advice to the President, Prime Minister, and other ministries, MOJ supervises the prosecution. It is also in charge of correctional and rehabilitative administration and immigration. In what should be of more interest to foreign investors, it is responsible for Policies with respect to an Investment-Friendly Legal Environment. I interviewed him to learn more about the policies and plans on this front.
Excerpts:

>>The vision of the Ministry of Justice is to bring about a happy nation with an advanced rule of law. To realize this vision, we are pushing ahead with the following priorities. First, in order to create a transparent society, we are promoting establishment of law and order that is commensurate with Korea's standing in the international community and (2) enhancement of the nation's credibility through prevention of corruption. Second, in order to create a safe society, we are promoting (3) protection of citizens from violent crime and (4) prevention of repeated crimes through support for criminal rehabilitation. Finally, in order to achieve more open administration of judicial affairs, we are promoting (5) implementation of open and harmonious policies for aliens and (6) construction of advanced infrastructure for judicial affairs administration.
>>Last February, in order to simplify the invitation process for long-term visitors, such as for employment of skilled foreign talents, the Ministry of Justice opened the visa-application process to online application for certificate for confirmation of visa issuance through HuNet Korea (www.visa.go.kr), an internet-based visa application system. Furthermore, we shortened the time it takes to issue a visa by exempting the submission of corporate-related documents such as business license, employment contract, and personal reference.
In May 2010, we also streamlined the invitation process for short-term visitors, such as for foreign corporate buyers. This procedural simplification allows issuance of short-term business visa (C-2) for a foreigner with short-term business purpose based on no other requirement than a company-issued invitation and grants up to 90 days for the visit.
The Ministry of Justice will further strengthen its continuous efforts to improve the immigration system so that 36,000 skilled foreign talents, such as professors or researchers, as well as 9,000 foreign investors currently residing in Korea can live and do businesses more conveniently.
>>We must admit that Korea had been conservative in its recognition of refugee status, underscored by the statistics that only two refugees were recognized as such in ten years from the ratification of the United Nations Convention relating to the Status of Refugees in 1992; moreover, Korea has had many shortcomings with regard to refugee status recognition process or support policies. Nevertheless, the number of refugee seekers has increased substantially in recent years, proportionally to the recent surge in Korea's national reputation in the global society, and this increase has necessitated a closer attention and a better care at the government-level.
The Ministry of Justice has recently implemented what we consider groundbreaking policies: we halved the evaluation period for refugee status from a year to six months; allowed the refugee seekers on long-term standbys to find employment, starting May 4th, 2010; and took action to enable refugee seekers to receive medical treatment and to be hospitalized at government-designated hospitals and up to 5 million won in medical bill support through collaboration with the Ministry of Health and Welfare since June 1st, 2010.
Particularly, as a result of a more proactive refugee embracement policy implemented to live up to Korea's international status enhanced by the imminent G-20 Seoul Summit, Korea has recognized a total of 205 refugees and has granted 130 cases of temporary resident status on humanitarian grounds as of August, 2010. The number of refugees recognized during the last three years accounts for approximately 75% of the total recognized refugees.
The Ministry of Justice will work to guarantee the procedural rights of refugee seekers to a speedy and fair evaluation. Furthermore, the Ministry will provide measures to support improvement of social treatment of recognized refugees and refugee seekers.
>>Korean law on nationality to date has received criticism for its failure to anticipate the international trend that increasingly permits dual citizenship by holding on to a single-nationality principle, exemplified by its practice of requesting proof for renunciation of foreign citizenship from foreigners that obtained Korean nationality and citizens born with multiple citizenships. It has also been pointed out that such Korean institution has created barriers for skilled talents and Koreans abroad with foreign nationality to obtain Korean nationality and even has induced adverse effects on population.
In order to reform the sixty-year old institution rigidly rooted in single-nationality principle, the Ministry of Justice submitted to the National Assembly the Amended Nationality Act, with allowance of multiple citizenships for citizens born with multiple citizenships as its major content, based on thorough discussions of the topic and public opinion gathered through public hearings.
This revised Nationality Act was passed in the National Assembly on April 21st this year and was proclaimed on the fourth of following May. It will be put in place in its entirety on the first of January 2011 while certain provisions are put into immediate effect at the proclamation.
Under this law, in case citizens born with multiple citizenships, migrants through international marriage, overseas Korean adoptees, elder overseas Koreans returning permanently, or foreign talents obtain or select Korean nationality, they are permitted to hold de facto multiple citizenships as they are required to take an oath of foreign citizenship nonuser instead of having to provide proof of foreign citizenship renunciation.
We aim to enhance national competitiveness through securing human resources, support social integration of newly naturalized citizens such as international marriage migrants, and better regard overseas Korean adoptees and elder overseas Koreans, through this reform while we also expect to see positive effects such as suppression of population net outflow.
>>In July 2010, the Ministry of Justice published and circulated the first volume of a quarterly English legal magazine titled Recent Trends of Law & Regulation in Korea: Focusing on Business and Investment.
This is the first English legal magazine that the government has published. The magazine carries articles on reasons and details of enactment and amendment of Acts related to company and investment, and case laws of the Supreme Court and the Constitutional Court on such Acts. It also provides detailed information on intellectual property rights protection efforts and key policies for foreigners, such as immigration regulations, that the Ministry of Justice has spearheaded.
The Ministry of Justice plans to select various topics and legislations that may be helpful for foreign businesses and provide corresponding information both online and offline on a quarterly basis. So we encourage any interested party to take advantage of this content.
>>Maintenance of law and institution is the cornerstone for economic development and consequently serves as a foundation for a nation's effort to join the ranks of the advanced countries. Hence, the Ministry of Justice aims to continue its effort to maintain the law and order befitting the economic strength and national status of Korea through the hosting of the G-20 Seoul Summit, etc.
At such an important turning point, with the Korea-EU FTA expected to take effect sometime soon, we are ready to develop and implement policies that can contribute to the creation of a legal environment friendly to foreign investors.

Read more »

Interview: Ms. Arlida Ariff, President & CEO, Iskandar Investment Berhad

Located in Johor, the southern gateway to Peninsular Malaysia, Iskandar Malaysia economic region is just six to eight hours flight radius from Asia's burgeoning growth centres such as Bangalore, Dubai, Hong Kong, Seoul, Shanghai, Taipei and Tokyo, and within reach of a global market of some 800 million people.
Accessible by air, land, rail and sea, it is flanked by three major ports, the Pasir Gudang Port, Port of Tanjung Pelepas and Tanjung Langsat Port. Because of its strategic location, accessibility to leading Asian cities, proximity to some of the world's most rapidly growing and important economies, and a range of attractive fiscal incentives, Iskandar Malaysia is poised to attract an exciting influx of foreign and high-level corporate investments as discerning investors look to benefit from its many advantages and high growth potential.
The special economic zone grew out of a 2005 government requested feasibility study by the Khazanah Nasional which found that the development of such a zone would be economically, socially and developmentally beneficial.
The National SJER Planning Committee (NSPC), hearing Khazanah's findings, put it in charge of developing a sustainable, holistic approach to development in the region. Iskandar Malaysia was singled out as among the high-impact developments of the Ninth Malaysia Plan, put into action by the Prime Minister of Malaysia in March 2006 to cover the period of 2006 to 2010. In November 2006, the Prime Minister, Chief Minister of Johor, Abdul Ghani Othman and Khazanah revealed the Comprehensive Development Plan (CDP).
Under the plan, five "Flagship Zones" in the 221,634.1 hectares (2,216.3 kmｲ) of land covered are identified as developmental focal points. Four of these Flagship Zones are found in the "Special Economic Corridor" (SEC) of Nusajaya-Johor Bahru-Pasir Gudang. The corridor謡hich includes the significant ports of Tanjung Pelepas, Pasir Gudang, and Tanjung Langsatis prioritized for development in the CDP, with particular focus on Nusajaya.
Johur Bahru City Centre is Flagship Zone A, including development of a new financial district, the central business district, the waterfront city of Danga Bay, a mixed development in Tebrau Plentong and the Malaysia/Singapore Causeway.
Flagship Zone B is Nusajaya, with planned development of the new Johor state administrative centre, a medical hub, an "educity", a resort for international tourism and an industrial logistic cluster and Residence Horizon Hills, Bukit Indah.
Flagship Zone C, the Western Gate Development, focuses on the Port of Tanjung Pelepas (PTP), providing a second transportation link for Malaysia/Singapore, a free trade zone, the RAMSAR World Heritage Park and the Tanjung Piai.
Flagship Zone D, the Eastern Gate Development, focuses on the Pasir Gudang Port and industrial zone, Tanjung Langsat Port, the Tanjung Langsat Technology Park and the Kim-Kim regional distribution centre. In the final Flagship Zone, Senai-Skudai, development is focused on the Senai International Airport, hubs for cargo and knowledge, a multimodal centre and the MSC Cyberport city.
Due for completion in 2025, the mega-development project has been in its planning and mobilization stages for the past two years and is now in its Catalytic Development stage.
Much of the kudos for its success goes to Iskandar Investment Berhad (IIB), an investment holding company working in close partnership with the Iskandar Regional Development Authority to drive investment into Iskandar Malaysia.
IIB promotes and coordinates development to support Iskandar Malaysia. As a catalytic player in part of Iskandar Malaysia's infrastructure projects, IIB's primary goal is to seek world-class investors to bring best practice to the development.

As noted by Ms. Arlida Ariff, President & CEO, IIB develops residential, commercial, and mixed projects in Iskandar Malaysia. It also develops waterfront projects, including residences, resorts, entertainment venues, waterfront amenities, shopping centers, hotels, office suites, and multi-modal and mixed-use ferry terminals.
Formerly known as South Joho Investment Corporation Berhad, the company was founded in 2006 and is based in Johor Bahru, Malaysia with additional offices in Kuala Lumpur and Singapore.
“Our vision is to be the catalytic driver of the mega-project and achieve this by investing in selected strategic initiatives as well as through the contribution of land through sale, lease, granting of concessions or development rights.”
She noted that since the end of 2006, IIB has lured over 60 billion ringgit worth of investment from local and foreign investors, exceeding its own target of 47 billion. The region has nearly met its overall foreign direct invest target of $13bn for the phase ending in 2010. To date, collectively amongst all players in Iskandar Malaysia, more than $11bn, or 92%, has been invested.
Iskandar Investment began 2010 by announcing a feasibility study with Raffles Education Corporation Limited ('RafflesEducationCorp') to develop Raffles University Iskandar, a multiinstitutional education campus in EduCity, Iskandar Malaysia. RafflesEducationCorp is the largest private education provider in Asia Pacific.
#Other recent key milestones include:
- Construction of a 21.5-acre Stadium and Sports Complex which began in February will provide first-class sporting facilities for students and the community in Iskandar Malaysia.
- Construction will be completed in September 2011 in time for the opening of the Newcastle University Medical Malaysia (NUMed) campus.
- Agreement to establish Marlborough College Malaysia, the first international venture for the leading British independent, coeducational boarding school catering to the schooling needs of local and international students between the ages of five and 18. The campus is scheduled to open in September 2012
- Collaboration with WCT, a leading Malaysian construction and property development company, to jointly develop and co-own 1Medini, the first residential development in Medini. The condominium will be launched in mid-2010 with its first phase of 300 units ready by 2013
- Additionally, EduCity and Iskandar, the integrated education hub for Iskandar Malaysia, has also recently tied up with a world-class partner, Newcastle University of Medicine from the UK, to build its first branch campus by May 2011. The university has pledged more than $100m over 30 years to the development.
Ms. Ariff noted that IIB is looking for both foreign and local investors to contribute to the success of Iskandar.
As for the plans for this year, she said that the focus will be countries in Southeast Asia Singapore. Indonesia, China and India. Investors from these countries could become our partners in development projects or they could be buyers of our residential and commercial properties, or tenants for the retail project. We are keeping our options open.
We will still look at investors from Europe and the Middle East. Money can come from everywhere. We are a strategic developer and our main role is to drive commercial initiatives within the 2,217 sq km in Iskandar via joint venture or contribution of land. But, whatever investments we bring into Iskandar have to benefit the state and country.
She noted that the prospects are good in education, leisure, tourism and health services, especially education and health, as these are two segments that are least affected during an economic crisis.
“We have EduCity with institutions to cater for education needs from primary up to university level in the fields of medicine, hospitality, engineering and maritime. For leisure and tourism, there are Legoland in Medini and the Indoor Theme Park @ Puteri Harbour opening in 2012.
We hope to bring in new retail brands.”
“Apart from the property development, we are going to set up a unit this year to provide ancillary support services for property management, IT services, educational, tourism and environmental. We don稚 just want to develop a piece of land and hand over the project on completion. We want to ensure our projects are well maintained and managed in years to come, especially in 2012 when Legoland and NUMed @ EduCity are completed and operational.”
Iskandar Malaysia is fully supported by the federal government of Malaysia which will be offering special incentives to investors such as tax breaks, ease of talent recruitment, lifted foreign ownership restrictions and business facilitated though a regulatory authority.
The largest foreign investor so far has been Acerinox, of Spain, which is building a steel plant for 4.18 billion ringgit. Singaporean and Japanese investors have put up 3.03 billion ringgit and 2.98 billion ringgit respectively.
She attributed the increased investments to the infrastructure that have been developed as well as the strengthening economy and fiscal incentives such as a 10-year tax exemption in Medini in Iskandar Malaysia, besides the flexibility to recruit foreign talents.
To encourage early investment, the government is offering a range of incentives, including a 10-year exemption from corporate and withholding taxes and an indefinite suspension of Real Property Gains Tax, a levy on real estate capital gains imposed in January. The suspension alone could save investors between 5 percent to 20 percent of the chargeable gains from disposal of properties which would have been taxed otherwise.

Read more »

Interview: Dr. Matthias Altmann, New Markets Manager, Fairtrade Labelling Organizations International

Established in 1997, Fairtrade Labelling Organizations International (FLO) is an association of 3 producer networks and 21 national labelling initiatives that promote and market the Fairtrade Certification Mark in their countries. Fairtrade labelling organizations exist in 15 European countries as well as in Canada, the United States, Japan, Australia and New Zealand.
To ensure the transparency and the independence of the Fairtrade certification and labelling system, Fairtrade Labelling Organizations International was divided in January 2004 into two independent organizations:
FLO International develops and reviews Fairtrade standards and assists producers in gaining and maintaining certification and in capitalizing on market opportunities on the Fairtrade market. To ensure the transparency of the system, the standards are developed and reviewed by the FLO Standards and Policy Committee, in which FLO members, producer organizations, traders and external experts participate.
FLO-CERT ensures that producers and traders comply with the FLO Fairtrade Standards and that producers invest the benefits received through Fairtrade in their development. Operating independently from any other interests, it follows the international ISO standards for certification bodies (ISO 65).

As noted by Dr. Matthias Altmann, New Markets Manager, Fairtrade Labelling Organizations International, Fairtrade is an alternative approach to conventional trade and is based on a partnership between producers and consumers. Fairtrade offers producers a better deal and improved terms of trade. This allows them the opportunity to improve their lives and plan for their future. Fairtrade offers consumers a powerful way to reduce poverty through their every day shopping.
“When a product carries the Fairtrade Mark it means the producers and traders have met Fairtrade standards. The standards are designed to address the imbalance of power in trading relationships, unstable markets and the injustices of conventional trade,he said.
He noted that there are two distinct sets of Fairtrade standards, which acknowledge different types of disadvantaged producers. One set of standards applies to smallholders that are working together in co-operatives or other organizations with a democratic structure. The other set applies to workers, whose employers pay decent wages, guarantee the right to join trade unions, ensure health and safety standards and provide adequate housing where relevant.
Fairtrade standards also cover terms of trade. Most products have a Fairtrade price, which is the minimum that must be paid to the producers. In addition producers get an additional sum, the Fairtrade Premium, to invest in their communities.
“The minimum price paid to Fairtrade producers is determined by the Fairtrade standards. It applies to most Fairtrade certified products. This price aims to ensure that producers can cover their average costs of sustainable production. This means it can serve as a safety net for farmers when world markets fall below a sustainable level. Minimum price only sets the minimum trading price; producers and traders can also negotiate a higher price, for example on the basis of quality, and for some products, FLO also sets different prices for organic crops, or for particular grades of produce, Mr. Altmann said.
In addition to the Fairtrade price, there is an additional sum of money, called the Fairtrade Premium. This money goes into a communal fund for workers and farmers to use to improve their social, economic and environmental conditions.
This sum of money is paid on top of the agreed Fairtrade price. It is usually invested in social, environmental or economic development projects that are decided upon democratically by producers within the farmers organization or by workers on a plantation. For example, education and healthcare, farm improvements to increase yield and quality, or processing facilities to add more value to the products.
As many projects funded by the Premium are communal, the broader community, outside the producer organization often benefits from Fairtrade, he said.
There are now thousands of products that carry the Fairtrade Mark. Fairtrade standards exist for food products ranging from tea and coffee to fresh fruits and nuts. There are also standards for non-food products such as flowers and plants, sports balls and seed cotton.
For the first time in its history, FLO is revamping its standards. Better cost-benefit ratio, simplified compliance criteria and ensuring that FLO meets the needs of Fairtrade farmers, workers and traders: these are the key goals of the New Standards Framework. The new framework has three pillars: Production, Trade, and Business & Development which cover economic tools unique to Fairtrade and help to reinforce the Fairtrade Minimum Price and Premium.
“Our standards apply to producers and their buyers in the supply chain. They include producer standards for workers/ Hired Labour and small-scale farmers organized in Small Producer Organizations or who sell through external bodies, which is known as Contract Production. There are also standards for the importer, exporter or processor who buys directly from the producer group, he said.
Mr. Altmann noted that the Fairtrade Mark is now the most widely recognised social and development label in the world. The Mark is owned and protected by FLO on behalf of its members.
In this context he pointed out that Fairtrade Labelling Initiatives that founded FLO originally had different labels. In 2002, the International Fairtrade Certification Mark was created and since then it has gradually replaced the different national labels. Two of FLO's members are still using their own original labels. In Canada and the United States the Fair Trade Certified labels indicate that Fairtrade standards have been met.
2009 was another year of positive growth for Fairtrade, as sales continued to increase across all LI countries. It's estimated that roughly 27,000 Fairtrade products are now sold in over 70 countries. According to recent surveys, consumer awareness of the Fairtrade Mark has exceeded 80% in some countries. And, despite the economic downturn, Fairtrade has achieved a 15% increase in global retail value, with estimated sales amounting to 3.4 billion euro.
“Our ambition is to increase the number of producers in the Fairtrade system fivefold, while delivering ten times the Fairtrade Premium and increasing Fairtrade sales tenfold, by 2015,he said.
Mr. Altmann said that the best way consumers can support Fairtrade is to buy products that carry the Fairtrade Certification Mark. The Mark is now the most widely recognised ethical label in the world. When a consumer product bears the Mark it ensures that the product has been traded according to FLO's international Fairtrade Standards.
There are roughly 27,000 products on store shelves around the world bearing the Fairtrade Mark. When consumers choose to buy a product labelled with the Fairtrade Mark, they are helping to reduce poverty and encouraging companies around the world to trade fairly.

Read more »

Interview: Mr. Michael Breen, Founder & Chairman, Insight Communications

In what should certainly come as a big shock to Koreans, but has been royally ignored by the local media, the latest Nation Branding Index produced by East West Communications ranked South Korea in 167th place globally in its second-quarter results, which is down from the 3rd place in the first quarter of this year.
The East West Nation Brand Perception Index is based on analyzing millions of mentions of countries in hundreds of thousands of news articles, every quarter. As pointed out by the agency, it is difficult for countries to address their branding and communications problems if they don't know where their strengths and weaknesses lie. Until now, it has been possible to make only an educated guess as to how a country is viewed by the world, based on news clippings, surveys, focus groups and the like. That is why East West Communications has teamed up with Perception Metrics to create a scientific basis for analyzing international perceptions of a country's brand.
So, what this research shows is that South Korea's perception within international media , in recent times has been pretty bad. Korea's international image is less than clear and by and large very narrowly defined by its ties with North Korea. For this reason, it can be easily assumed that the 'Cheonan' distaster is largely to blame for this slip in the rankings!
While that may well be the case, it is certainly not very inspiring for the government officials, who have for several years now been trying to improve the country's international reputation with overseas investors and tourists by adopting various branding strategies.
As any long-time observer of the country will tell you, so far, they have failed to come up with anything that seems to work.

As Mr. Michael Breen, a public relations consultant who has lived in Seoul for 28 years, points out: We have seen slogans and logos attached to the Korea 'brand' in the same way as taglines and imagery are linked to commercial products. However, none of them have clicked.”
A former correspondent for The Washington Times and The Guardian newspapers, he is currently the chairman of Insight Communications, a public relations firm.
Since entering public relations in 1999, he has been engaged in a number of large projects in Korea, including the World Cup in 2002, and promotional programs for Seoul City, Incheon International Airport and the Korea Exchange, as well as for numerous multinationals. He is the author of The Koreans (1999) and Kim Jong-il: North Korea's Dear Leader (2004) and was made an honorary citizen of Seoul in 2001.
He said, one of the main problems of the 'Korea brand image' is that there is no unique message about Korea that is sent out to visitors. Different government departments have their own promotions and the message often lacks consistency. Each organization seems to try to promote itself, with its own objectives, egos and stakes.
“Instead of having different organizations bringing their own expertise and skills to the National Branding effort in a coordinated manner, independent initiatives are taken, often adding confusion and difficulty to the already extremely complex debate.”
Starting this year, Korea's tourism attractions are being promoted through a new English slogan, "Korea Be Inspired" which emphasizes the hope that foreign tourists will gain new inspiration by visiting the country. The Korea Tourism Organization is aiming to attract 8.5 million foreign tourists in 2010. This year also marks the beginning of the 2010-2012 "Visit Korea Campaign," aimed at generating $10 billion in annual tourism revenue and advancing Korea's stature as a tourism power.
Previously, the slogan "Korea Sparkling" was used in various promotional materials at home and abroad since 2007. However, it had been criticized for lacking identity and relevance to tourism.
The country is also sold to investors as Dynamic Korea and the Hub of Asia, or a combined version. We've also had the less familiar Korea's IT.
“These brands are not bad or wrong, but they do not appear to have lifted the country or made an impact in the way that was hoped,Mr. Breen said.
Not that this disappointment has stopped provinces and cities from following suit. Many of the different local governments have their own promotion campaigns and logos, which are equally confusing and at cross-purposes.
They include- Hi Seoul: Soul of Asia; Dynamic Busan: City of Tomorrow; Fly Incheon; Colorful Daegu; Beautiful Gyeongju; Happy Suwon; Jeonju City: City of Culture; Cheongju, the happy city worth living in; It's Daejeon; Green Land JeollaNamdo; and GyeongGi-Do: Global Inspiration.
Busan's 'dynamic' is a straight copy of Dynamic Korea, which was developed in the Kim Dae-jung administration. A smaller city could get away with hitching its wagon to the national brand, but Busan is a very important place and, with four million people, is bigger than a lot of countries. It needs something original, he said.
Of all of the various brands, the one that does sound apt is ``Fly Incheon.'' Although it sounds like ``Fly United,'' whatever else Incheon wants to be, it is now identified with the airport. As such, the logo fits the brand.
All the examples do represent an effort in the right direction, which is to find a way to boost the economy. It suggests that the branding effort is part of a broader effort to promote and communicate, which is appreciated, but more though needs to go into the process, he said.
What government needs to do is recognize that the design and the tagline should come at the end of a process of research and strategizing that may take some time and cost some money, especially if international opinion surveys are required.
“At the heart of the process is a decision as to how to ``position'' the country or city, in other words, exactly how we want investors, tourists and other audiences, including citizens themselves, to think about us.
They also need to be extremely careful not to copy others because the whole point is to identify what is special and fitting about their place. For this reason he thinks that the new slogan- 'Korea, Be Inspired' is unique and sends the right message.
“Some say that you cant really brand a country of South Korea's size. However, a lot of us can relate to the new slogan. You find yourself walkign faster here, the shamanism, gi, feng- shui, all make up for an inspiring stay.”
'Dynamic Korea' didn't work because it sounded like a copy of 'Incredible India' and 'Amazing Thailand'. But with adjective and noun reversed, 'Korea, Sparkling' sounded original, wlthough it did not last.
The goal of making the logo fit the brand involves describing a place in a way that is acceptable and which highlights something distinct, or in a way that captures an aspiration, how the city or country would like to be.
He also noted that as awareness of South Korea spreads around the world with the country's growing importance, so too do negative perceptions. The problem arises when the negative associations outweigh the good. In this case, the dangerous antics of the North Korean rulers.
There is much more to South Korea and this has be highlighted in the various campaigns.
The country is good at knowing what physical infrastructure is needed, but what needs improvement is communicating about what they have acquired. People who are responsible for the communication side need to be alert. There is also a need to have thorough audit of the communication system.
As an example, he pointed out that the story telling at various temples and palaces need to be more interesting. What one gets told now is the most boring version.
Mr. Breen also mentioned that So much that the officials could learn about tourism, identifyign and developing tourism attractions and promotions from EU countries. The key is not to oversell oneself.

Read more »

Interview: Simon Harding-Roots, Chief Operating Officer, Treasury Holdings China

From its origins in Ireland, the Treasury Holdings Group now operates globally, across two continents and in seven countries. The Group continues to lead the way in identifying and capitalizing on ever-changing global property trends. Established in Dublin in 1989 by John Ronan and Richard Barrett, Treasury Holdings has been a pioneer in the property sector, and has consistently been ahead in identifying and capitalizing on property trends.
Treasury Holdings now controls over 131 individual real estate projects with a combined value in excess of $4.6 billion. The gross development value of the Treasury Holdings Group's projects is over $19 billion.
After its success in Ireland during the 80s and 90s, in the early part of the decade Treasury Holdings began to focus its attention on global property development and investment markets with particular emphasis on China.

As noted by Mr. Simon Harding-Roots, Chief Operating Officer, Treasury Holdings China, today, the company is one of the largest Western developers and investors in China.
“Through our considerable experience in urban development, we endeavor to bring uniqueness to every project under consideration. In addition, Treasury's considerable asset management experience has enabled it to improve existing property assets through active administration of the investment property portfolio.
He joined THCL with over 20 years of international property development experience. A qualified Chartered Surveyor (RICS) he specializes in delivering major mixed use projects. Following 8 years in Dubai where he was responsible for some of the region's most successful retail led mixed use schemes for a leading development organization, Simon spent two and a half years with an international investment and private equity firm in Bahrain establishing their development portfolio. This included the award winning 'Bahrain Bay' waterfront scheme, valued at $2 billion.
He noted that the company intends ultimately to locate one-third of its worldwide activities in the Chinese market. Treasury plans to become fully integrated into Chinese business and culture and to be the most successful Western property company operating in China.
Benefiting from Treasury Holding's synergistic combination of sophisticated Western management practices and the intimate local market knowledge and extensive network developed through its presence in China since 2005, TCT has successfully assembled a high-quality portfolio of income-producing commercial real estate and development opportunities located in China's financial and political centers of Shanghai and Beijing.
Treasury has four offices in China: in Shanghai, Beijing, Qingdao and Hong Kong. Treasury Holdings is currently building a high quality mixed investment portfolio with its main concentration on acquiring excellent buildings or sourcing development opportunities in prime locations. It is currently concentrating its search for development and investment opportunities in the first and second tier cities in China, he said.
“Foreign investment remains a strong element in China's remarkable expansion in world trade. This is in part due to the way in which the Chinese government has opened up previously closed sectors of the economy in line with World Trade Organisation requirements,he said.
The Company currently manages 3 separate investment projects in office and retail sectors located in Shanghai. Due to its long-term investment outlook, it is now a driving force in China and is identifying many exciting development and investment projects. The combination of western development management skills, together with the scale, local knowledge, and strength of local partners makes a powerful team, he said.
Mr. Harding-Roots pointed out that to enable Treasury to take advantage of its position as the predominant western developer in China and offer western shareholders a unique opportunity to gain exposure to the burgeoning Chinese property market, the Company established China Real Estate Opportunities (CREO), which listed on the AIM market in London in July 2007, having successfully raised ｣259 million.
On June 21st this year, the company moved CREO's listing to Singapore, betting that investors there will better appreciate the portfolio of the Chines property assets. CREO shareholders were offered five units of Treasury China Trust (TCT), a Singapore-based business trust for every CREO share they held. TCT was then listed on SGX by introduction.
TCT provides a comprehensive platform of proactive management and through its dedicated team, numbering more than 70 on the ground in China, delivers out-performance across all elements of real estate ownership, asset management and development capability.
This combination, unique to the Chinese market, underwrites the company's commitment to a total return business model which exposes its shareholders to a broad operating platform and diversifies risk across its asset classes and revenue sources and through its development arm creates strong accretive income growth, he noted.
He said that the company's strengths are: Unique and exclusive focus on commercial real estate in China with strong opportunities for both income and capital growth; Exposure to key gateway cities in China; Long term commitment to the China market; Successful and proactive asset management of the portfolio by Treasury Holdings, thus benefiting from its extensive experience as a high quality, global property developer and investor; and, strong pipeline of investments for revenue and balance sheet growth
Speaking on the main challenges, he noted that in the real estate market, supply of land and building is the most frustrating thing, as is the ability to get experienced staff.
Since the company is focused on China, Seoul is still out of sights for the company at present.

Read more »

Interview: Mr. Youn Jang-bae , President, Korea Agro-Fisheries Trade Corporation

By establishing leading export groups and cultivating professionals, Korea Agro-Fisheries Trade Corporation (aT) enhances the export competitiveness of Korean agricultural and fishery products and provides consulting and marketing support.
For Enhanced Export Safety of Agricultural and Fishery Products, aT strives to maximize export safety through the adoption and equalization of internationally-accepted GAP, ID management for fresh agricultural products, and strategic safety management by inviting inspectors from overseas.
Agro-Trade is an Internet Trade Mediation System that develops and expands overseas markets for export companies. aT also plays a leading role in providing information services, such as KATI, which provides information on the export of agricultural and fishery products on the Internet.
Moreover, aT’s nine aT Centers in six countries around the world play active roles in supporting the export of Korean agricultural food products.
Excerpts of interview with Mr.Youn Jang-bae, President, Korea Agro-Fisheries Trade Corporation:

>Founded in 1967 as Agriculture & Fishery Development Corporation for balanced development of agriculture and industry, it was renamed as Agricultural and Fishery Marketing Corporation (AFMC) in 1987 for the settlement of marketing and promotional functions. In 1992 we expanded the export promotion program and suggested reinforcement of competitiveness by developing export system of agriculture and fisheries in the era of trade liberalization.
Our purpose is to stabilize the food supply by price stabilization and improve distributional system so we can improve farmers’ profit and develop national economy in balance.
We have been undertaking following four projects: 1) Export promotion: Foundation/production of base of export items, opening up the global market, commercialization of export items, and etc. 2) Marketing innovation: Operation of cyber agricultural and fisheries product exchange, activation of wholesale market, and support for local producers and retail market. 3) Price stabilization: Meet demands and supplies by buffer stock and inter-Korean agricultural cooperation. 4) Food industry support: Create new growth power of agriculture by activation of food companies, establishment of infrastructure, and globalization of Korean food.
>Export situation has not been ideal due to the drop of exchange rate lasted since the beginning of this year, bad crop caused by temperature changes, and global economic depression caused by European crisis. As of May 31st, we recorded $2.1 billion, 23% increase compare to 2009: farm products $ 1.286 billion (23%), forest products $0.075 billion (106%), fishery products $0.686 billion (18%).
For fresh products, production of vegetable and horticultural products has been inactivate due to the unusually low temperature, however, it’s per item cost have increased according to the decreased production of Japan, the main target: vegetable $69 million (15%), flower $30 million (44%), fruit $52 million (27%).
Export of mushrooms, enoki ($7 million) and king oyster ($4 million) particularly, is decreased and congested due to the inactive export situation to counties like China and Hong Kong. For fishery products (tuna $143 million, halibut $21 million, oyster $36 million) and process food such as sweets ($104 million), drinks (beverage $39 million, liquor $105 million) export rate is increased according to the economic recovery of China, Russia, and Southeast Asia as well as their attempt for opening a new market.
The export rate has been increased according to the active economic growth of main exporting countries such as China ($281 million, 55%), Russia ($98 million, 27%), Japan ($675 million, 11%), U.S.A ($204 million, 16%), EU ($130 million, 83%), Hong Kong ($91 million, 26%), Taiwan ($57 million, 29%) and ASEAN ($ 245 million, 32%).
>It took 20 years to increase the export rate of agricultural products from $3 to 4 billion, however, 2 years to raise up to $5 billion. In the past, Korea’s export was mainly on primary industry products, only dealing with so many countries like Japan and dependent on the quota. But recent export is expanded to high value added products such as process food, and our effort for opening up a new diverse export market has made a great contribution.
We strengthened the stable supply system of high quality agricultural products by scaling up and systematization of production in poor situation started from economic crises in 2008. In particular, we expanded and modernized the facilities like constructing glass houses, established 19 export-specialized organizations and 16 advisory committees to consolidate our control power in the global market.
Also, we have been implementing new marketing strategies for large sales, expanded customer range from overseas Korean markets to local markets, and concluding MOUs with major supermarkets (8 countries, 22 companies) to push ahead with the direct export. The partners who signed MOU with aT center include; Melissa’s, Titan Foods, Rhee Bros, H-mart, CGC Japan, Marche, Lotte mart, RT mart and etc.
We are also aiming to contact China and Southeast Asian market that have great potential. The export rate to China recorded the greatest increase from $336 (′06) to 565 million (′09), 68% increase. The changes of export rate in Southeast Asian countries are as follows: 1) Hong Kong- $159 (′06) to 196 million (′09), 23 % increase, 2) Taiwan- $110 (′06) to 155 million (′09), 41% increase. For ASEAN, the rate increased from $267(′06) to 521 million (′09), 95% increase.
Rapid growth of export has been considered as a result of our intensive focus on systematic export policies including establishment of strategies for accomplishing $10 billion and strengthen export support systems.
>Due to the different food cultures, it is very difficult to enter the liquor market in EU and it is limited to the Asian markets only. It takes about 6 to 10 months for the store location as well as requiring costs.
Hence, we are going to implement the following long and short-term strategies to promote Korean food products in EU region:
1) Participate in exhibitions for health and restaurants reflecting European health trend and organize promotion events in major retail stores across the Europe.
-Exhibitions: Bologna, Lyon, Cologne, Barcelona, Brussels
-Promotion events: England, Germany, France, Austria
2) Promote a co-marketing strategy with major food companies succeeded in local market-Cj and Daesang, to lead into an expansion of export.
3) Conclude MOUs and promote co-marketing system with major local retailers to take over the local market directly in a medium and long term, and help Korean agricultural products to enter into the local European markets.
-Provide product information, select promising items, organize systematic sampling promotion events for major retailers who signed MOU.
-Organize general promotion exhibitions linked with Wahnamhong (Chinese, 15 stores) in Europe
-Expand the location of Korean food store in ASDA, the major liquor retailer in England: 2 units (Nov. 2009) → 4 units (April. 2010) → 50 units (by end of 2010)
The Korean government and aT center is going to constantly push forward with the political support reflecting the food safety and health interests for the Europeans. Also, we are aiming to increase the export rate from current rate of 6 to 10 percent by 2012 eventually.
>We are going to focus on establishing infrastructure, training professional manpower, and supporting overseas expansion of Korean restaurants for this year’s Globalization of Korean project. Our useful networks, including Korean Food Foundation, Korea Tourism Organization and KOTRA will fulfill their roles to contribute to the project.
Also, we aim to activate the globalization of Korean food related to our professional function. That is to vitalizing the export of Korean food products, supporting with consultative groups for Korean restaurants using aT center in overseas, and providing promotional project such as developing manpower.
>Korean food, with excellent fermented food, is considered as high quality and healthy food. Kimchi, ginseng and citron tea are the most famous food that are healthy and low in calories. In particular, kimchi has been chosen as one of the world’s top five cuisines which is effective in preventing SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) and many other disease. Meanwhile, Yuichiro Miura who conquered Mt. Everest in the age of 70 revealed that he packed 30kg of kimchi and ate kimchi stew to fight with a cold weather when he climbed the mountain.
Modern people are not only sensitive to its taste, but also prefer health food. In this context, Korean food is ideal for the modern food trend. Recently, consumption of meat has dropped due to the booming in healthy, fresh and organic food. Considering that people prefer to buy more beans, fruits, and vegetables, Korean food are the most ideal food with its outstanding taste and quality.
Since western countries are paying more attention to Korean food, I would say we are going to try to discover and export our superb products that will attract more interests of not only Asians, but the whole overseas countries. aT center will also put our best effort for the effective marketing strategies to create new markets and sustainable demand.

Read more »