2015 SU Update: UK Trade and Investment’s Interest in Gwangju Universiade ‘Catching Eyes’

GWANGJU – A Sports Trade and Investment Team from the British Embassy in Seoul visited Gwangju seeking investment opportunities.

“The 2015 Gwangju Universiade is a global sports event that draws the attention of the sports industry in the UK”, a source from UK Trade and Investment (UKTI) expressed a strong interest in participating in the 2015 Gwangju Universiade.

According to the Gwangju Universiade Organizing Committee (GUOC), the Trade and Investment Team of the British Embassy Seoul led by Douglas Barrett visited the GUOC Office on September 20th to do preparatory research for future investments.

This is their second visit to Gwangju since last December. The goal of their visit is to discover the areas British businesses can be part of with the Universiade Organizing Committee. UKTI is going to revisit Gwangju next February with a delegation of global sports partners.

Douglas Barrett said, “UKTI is highly interested inKoreaas the host country of the 2014 Asian Games, the 2015 Gwangju Universiade, and the 2018 Winter Olympics.” He added, “British sports businesses helped the Shenzhen Summer Universiade end with success last August, and they are going to be part of the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics and the 2016 Summer Olympics inRio.”

He also explained, “The British government considers the global sports industry as important as the automobile industry, and supports sports-related business to go global. The global sports industry is composed of various businesses such as architecture, IT, event planning, catering and marketing.”

He expressed his special interest in participating in the Gwangju Universiade through architecture and IT businesses, and he hoped to come back with 8-10 business leaders next February.

To this end, Yoon-suk Kim, the GUOC Secretary-General replied, “It would be more effective for British businesses to establish a consortium with Korean companies in order to participate in any sports events inKorea. The British delegation of global sports industry is always welcome to Gwangju.”

UKTI had invited the GUOC to London to attend a briefing session last April and introduced the 2015 Gwangju Universiade to British businesses.

(Source: GUOC 2015)