President Park Geun-hye arrived in this Swiss ski resort on Tuesday for an annual gathering of political and business leaders from around the world that she plans to use to appeal for investment in South Korea.
Park arrived in Davos after wrapping up a state visit to Bern.
She is the second South Korean president ever to attend the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum, also known as the "Davos Forum," after her predecessor, Lee Myung-bak, did so in 2010.
Park plans to use the gathering as an investor relations session for the South Korean economy, delivering a keynote speech at the forum to champion her "creative economy" vision and holding a series of one-on-one meetings with global business leaders.
Later Tuesday, Park met with Cisco Chairman and CEO John Chambers and discussed ways to increase cooperation in the "Internet of Everything (IoE)," which refers to a fully connected world where everything comes online. CISCO is a leader in the area.
Chambers said he hopes to expand cooperation with South Korea in IoE, and expressed his willingness to make investments in the country, such as setting up an IoE training center and conducting joint research, according to the presidential office.
Later in the day, Park also attended a "Korea Night" function hosted for foreign business leaders. Park said during the event that her government is working hard to make South Korea a better place for foreign investment, including a recent revision of the law on foreign investment.
The Federation of Korean Industries, South Korea's largest business lobby, has hosted the event every year at the Davos Forum since 2009 to promote awareness of South Korea.
On Wednesday, Park is scheduled to hold one-on-one meetings with the CEOs of Qualcomm, Saudi Aramco and Siemens. The main point of those meetings will also be to ask for more investment in South Korea, officials said.
(Yonhap News)
