Governor KIM Kwan Yong embarked on a tour to Europe and Africa on 15-22 March to participate in the 6^th World Water Forum and promote the Saemaul Movement* in poverty-stricken areas.

  In France, Kim attended the 6^th World Water Forum and a special handover ceremony held in Marseille as Gyeongsangbuk-do Province and Daegu Metropolitan City were announced as the co-hosts of the next forum in 2015. In Ethiopia, he met with high-ranking government officials and looked around the sites of the Saemaul Project, which Gyeongsangbuk-do has carried out since 2010 in Africa to combat poverty under the slogan, “Keep Company on the Road to Co-existence and Prosperity of Humankind.”

  “By organizing the world festival of water, one of the key industries for low-carbon & green growth, we will be able to become the center of world water industry and create more quality jobs,” said Kim. He also confirmed that Gyeongsangbuk-do would continue to provide development assistance by spreading Saemaul and volunteer works, which would in turn help create a business environment favorable to Korean companies. 

*The Saemaul Movement or the New Village Movement is a political initiative launched by the late South Korean president PARK Chung-Hee to modernize the rural South Korean economy.