Chairman Kim Hyun-ki Meets Delegation from Baden-W?rttemberg State Parliament, Germany

Chairman Kim Hyun-gi Meets Delegation from Baden-W?rttemberg State Parliament, Germany... Seeking to Expand Exchanges with German Local Councils

Kim Hyun-gi, Chairman of the Seoul Metropolitan Council, met with a delegation from the Baden-W?rttemberg State Parliament of Germany on the 16th to discuss ways to expand exchange and cooperation between the two councils.

This visit was arranged at the request of the Konrad Adenauer Foundation Seoul Office, which invited the delegation. The delegation of 10 members visiting the Seoul Metropolitan Council included Manuel Hagel, parliamentary leader of the CDU in Baden-W?rttemberg, Peter Boch, Mayor of Pforzheim, and Fabian Mayer, First Mayor of Stuttgart.

Baden-W?rttemberg is the German state with the highest proportion of manufacturing, home to world-renowned automotive and machinery companies such as Daimler and Bosch.

Additionally, with over 5,000 software companies including SAP, it forms the world's second-largest IT cluster after Silicon Valley. Stuttgart is the state capital.

Chairman Kim Hyun-gi said, “Both countries share the commonality of having grown based on manufacturing,” adding, “There are many points of contact for cooperation between the two countries and cities as they lead the Fourth Industrial Revolution based on manufacturing, and the Fourth Industrial Revolution in turn revitalizes manufacturing.”

He also noted, “It is impressive that Baden-W?rttemberg hosts many excellent universities such as Heidelberg University and the University of T?bingen, and that active industry-academia cooperation is taking place,” expressing hope that “through active exchanges in the future, synergy can be created.”

As the Chairman of the National Council of Chairpersons of Local Assemblies, Kim Hyun-gi also requested support for the 2030 Busan World Expo from the Baden-W?rttemberg State Parliament delegation.

The Baden-W?rttemberg delegation will inspect Seoul’s outstanding transportation and startup policies over two days. On the 16th, they toured the Seoul Transportation Information System (TOPIS) and the Cheonggyecheon autonomous bus, and on the 17th, they plan to visit the Startup Hub Gongdeok for a meeting with resident companies.