Mayor Park Won-soon Embarks on U.S. Tour... "Promoting Seoul's Competitiveness as a Smart City"

Las Vegas → San Francisco → Washington D.C. 7 Nights 10 Days Itinerary
Introducing Innovative Smart Seoul at the First 'Seoul Pavilion' Participation in 'CES'
Stanford University Lecture, Meetings with Global Entrepreneurs, and More

[Asia Economy Reporter Hyunju Lee] The Seoul Metropolitan Government announced on the 7th that Mayor Park Won-soon will embark on a 7-night, 10-day tour of three U.S. cities (Las Vegas, San Francisco, Washington D.C.).

This U.S. tour, the first in four years, was planned in conjunction with Seoul's inaugural participation in 'CES 2020,' the world's largest electronics exhibition.

As the first Seoul mayor to participate in CES, Mayor Park will join 20 innovative companies to provide them with a sales platform and promote various innovative policies, including the 'Digital Citizen Mayor's Office.'

In San Francisco, he will fully promote Seoul as a city ideal for startups and an attractive investment destination. In this regard, he will hold separate meetings with John Hennessy of Alphabet, Google's parent company, and Eric Schmidt, former Google chairman. He will also deliver a guest lecture at Stanford University and engage in a free Q&A session. In the final city, Washington D.C., Mayor Park will deliver a speech at a roundtable hosted by the American Foreign Relations Council, a think tank in the diplomacy and security field, focusing on 'Peace on the Korean Peninsula,' and meet with Brian Bulatao, U.S. Deputy Secretary of State. He is also scheduled to give an invited speech at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

Mayor Park's first itinerary is to attend the 'CTA Member Party' held at the Venetian Hotel in Las Vegas. This event is for members of the Consumer Technology Association, the organizer of CES, and is attended by over 600 leaders in IT innovation technology. Eight companies accompanying the Seoul Pavilion have also been officially invited to participate. Additionally, Mayor Park will hold individual meetings with Steve Wesley, CEO of the Wesley Group, among others.

Following this, Mayor Park will host 'Eureka Seoul in CES,' a three-hour event inviting domestic and international entrepreneurs participating in CES and experts from the U.S. venture capital sector. Hosted by the Seoul Metropolitan Government, it is a networking event to share the latest technology trends and explore cooperation methods. About 200 participants are expected, including 20 companies from the Seoul Pavilion and startups based in Silicon Valley.

Mayor Park stated, "We plan to showcase the competitiveness of smart city Seoul to the world," adding, "In San Francisco and Washington D.C., we will focus on highlighting Seoul's strengths as an attractive investment destination and the achievements of innovative startups, which have been extensively nurtured as the future keywords for Seoul's economy, currently trapped in low growth."