DAEGU < invest Korea

According to Yonhap News,

Daegu City and Gyeongbuk-do (North Gyeongsang Province) have set out to host ‘the seventh World Water Forum’ scheduled to be held in 2015.

Gyeongbuk said on March 20th that it would have a performance at the Cultural Center of Gyeongju World Culture Expo on March 21 to commemorate World Water Day (March 22nd) which is aimed to host World Water Forum or WWF.

About 800 people including Gyeongbuk Provincial Governor Kim Gwang-yong, officials of civic and environmental groups and residents will give a performance of holding a supersized banner overhead with great sound effect.

Also, ‘Symposium on strategies to host World Water Forum and the status of water reuse technologies’ will be held at an international conference room of Gyeongbuk Techno Park on March 25th to bring together professors and experts home and abroad to have presentations and discussions.

‘Daegu Gyeongbuk Water Forum’ (Chairman: Professor Lee Sun-tak of Yeungnam University) will be launched at the end of this month.

‘Daegu Gyeongbuk Water Forum’ will hold an international symposium under the theme of ‘the restoration and management of streams’ at Hotel Inter-burgo Daegu from April 13th to 15th. Chairman Lee Sun-tak will lead the event as the chairperson of UNESCO’s International Hydrological Programme (IHP).

Daegu City and Gyeongbuk-do will submit an official proposal to host WWF to World Water Council (WWC) until May 2nd, and the selection committee will carry out due diligence by the end of July.

They will have promotional activities at Sweden, Singapore, and Africa where general assembly and events of WWC will be held in May to September.

WWF is held every three years around World Water Day to provide an opportunity for international discussion to resolve global water issues and raise the awareness on them. WWC, a non-governmental organization, first suggested holding the Forum.

The one-week long Forum is the largest and most authoritative international event in the water resource sector.

Ministers, Vice Ministers, NGO members, and civilians from about 200 countries participate in the Forum, which consists of presidential-level and ministerial-level meetings, about 120 sessions on different themes, and exhibitions on water resources.

It is expected that 2015 WWF will generate the economic effect of KRW 200 billion and create 1,900 green jobs.

The board of directors of WWC will make the final decision on the host country of the seventh World Water Forum at Lebanon in October and November.

Currently, United Arab Emirates (Abu Dhabi) and Scotland (Glasgow) are competitors of Daegu, Gyeongbuk.

Daegu City and Gyeongbuk-do were selected as Korea’s representative region last June after fierce competition against six cities including Seoul, Incheon, and Daejeon.

Gyeongbuk Provincial Governor Kim Gwang-yong said “we will conduct promotional activities home and abroad jointly with Daegu City in order to host World Water Forum,” and added “WWF will serve as an opportunity for us to grow into an advanced water city.”

Source Text

Source: Yonhap News (March 18, 2011)

**This is an English translation of a Korean news article.