Incheon to be reborn as a tourism city
Incheon Tourism Organization and the Organizing Committee of Global Fair Festival 2009 Incheon signed a business agreement for mutual cooperation on Aug. 6 to attract foreign tourists, especially Chinese tourists. Under the pact, the two bodies will invite Chinese opinion leaders, journalists and local tourism representatives to the event to announce Visit Incheon 2009 Korea, which will be held in Incheon on Jan. 1, 2009. "For successful hosting of the Visit Incheon 2009 Korea and Global Fair Festival 2009 Incheon, Incheon City and Incheon Tourism Organization will also develop 60 tourism products in the port city for Chinese tourists," Mayor Ahn said. The Organizing Committee of Global Fair Festival 2009 Incheon also concluded a business agreement with JTB of Japan, the biggest travel agency in Asia on Aug. 28. "Under the agreement, JTB will take responsibility for hosting Wind Instrument Music, a program of cultural events for citizens participating in the Global Fair Festival and extensively develop tourism products for the international event," Ahn said. The mayor said, "Incheon is an ocean tourism city possessing about 150 large and small beautiful islands and a number of cultural and tourism resources ranging from the prehistoric age to modern times." "Through the globalization of Incheon City, we are going all-out to make the city the world's top-tier future-oriented, economically vibrant and lively city," he said.
Global Fair Festival 2009 Incheon
Incheon City has been making full preparations to successfully host the Global Fair Festival 2009 Incheon in August next year. "For the international event designed to herald the value of Incheon all over the world, the city will complete base work on a main event hall, manufacture exhibition contents and make other preparations before the end of this year," said the mayor. "Global Fair Festival 2009 Incheon will be held in Songdo for 80 days from Aug. 7 next year to Oct. 25, offering pleasure and impression to domestic and foreign visitors with advanced technology," he said. Related to this, Incheon City is now preparing for 74 projects consisting of 34 exhibitions, 18 conferences and 22 events. The 34 fairs will include a city-planning exhibition, fairs introducing stateof- the-art technologies, a global cultural street, and a global environmentrelated arts exhibition. Among the 18 conferences are the Asia-Pacific city summit meeting, the Global Knowledge Forum, an investment fair and a global environmental forum. "Incheon City is also preparing for 22 events, opening & closing ceremonies, a multimedia show, weekly events, the Harvest Moon Festival and Incheon global wine festival," he said.
Groundbreaking ceremony for Incheon Tower
Incheon City held a groundbreaking ceremony for the 151-story Incheon Tower on June 20, heralding the Korean city's jump toward world class city status. The Incheon City and Portman Consortium, led by Atlanta-based global real estate developer, Portman Holdings, earlier signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for joint development of a land of 1.92 million pyong (6.34 million square meters) in the No. 6 and 8 blocks of the Songdo district in the Incheon Free Economic Zone (IFEZ). "The multi-phased $11 billion project includes construction of a twintowered 151-story skyscraper, the highest in Northeast Asia. With the project, Incheon City will become a complex city with a new conception, consisting of cultural, ocean and leisure facilities plus commercial and residential structures," Ahn said. The project is part of Korea's efforts to transform 1,500 acres of reclaimed land into an unrivaled business hub for Northeast Asia. "The proposed 151-story building, which would be 610 meters tall, would be the second-highest tower in the world, after the 160-story Burj Tower in Dubai, which is currently under construction. The Incheon Tower will be two times higher than the nation's current tallest building, Tower Palace, which is 264 meters in height," he said. Three sky bridges will be established between the twin towers to link the two buildings. The Incheon Tower will also house hotels, offices, convention centers and shopping malls. "With inclusion of the 151-story twin tower in the IFEZ, Incheon will be transformed into a world-class business city on par with Hong Kong, Singapore, Shanghai and Dubai,'' Mayor Ahn said. Ahn also said the twin tower will become the landmark that symbolizes Korea's future growth potential.
Successful completion of Incheon Free Economic Zone
"With the successful completion of Incheon Free Economic Zone (IFEZ), Incheon City will be upgraded from a manufacturing-centered city to a high value added-oriented city based on high value added industries and advanced technology," said Ahn. Boosted by Incheon City's rapid development, Korea will become a center of the Asian economy where new business value is creating, developing and spreading, he said. "Centering on the IFEZ, exchanges between countries and cities will be activated and Korea will become a center of economic integration in Asia, including Japan and China. In particular, the nation's costs for unification of the Korean peninsula, if realized, will be reduced sharply if Pyeongyang expands its manufacturing base in Gaeseong Industrial Estate and its exchanges with IFEZ," he said. IFEZ is now developing into a global business city as the center of various international business, international trade, and exchanges of knowledge information and culture, he said. "IFEZ will lead the future of Asia by creating synergy with Gaeseong Industrial Estate of North Korea and make a great leap forward as a center of global trade with its air network linking Incheon International Airport to the world, the continental network linking Eurasia, and the ocean network linking Incheon Port to major global ports," said the mayor.
Incheon to host 2014 Asian Games
Under the active support of 2.7 million Incheon citizens and the city's allout efforts, Incheon City succeeded in attracting the 2014 Asian Games, defeating its main rival India, which boasts a population of 1 billion people. "Incheon City's hosting of the international sports event will help the city upgrade its status in the international arena in the 21st Century and arrange the foundation for peaceful unification of South and North Korea through South-North cooperation on the development of joint economic and tourism special zones, greatly contributing to peace in Asia and the world," said Ahn. Incheon will host the Asian Games, which is located in the center of Northeast Asia near China, Japan, Russia and North Korea, and will grow into a logistics and economic center of Northeast Asia, he said. At the same time, the city boasts advanced traffic systems, including the global-level Incheon International Airport, Incheon Port, a number of expressways, regional roads, subways and railroads. "Along with this, South Korea is equipped with a perfect safety system, boasting of the lowest crime rate among OECD member countries," Ahn said. "In preparation for the 2014 Asian Games, Incheon City, which operates 14 general hospitals equipped with advanced medical treatment facilities, also plans to expand necessary facilities in the future," he added.
