International students gather to promote foreign investment in Korea

The first Ambassadors of Friends of Invest Korea pose at the program’s orientation in Seoul (Photo: Invest Korea)

Hailing from 22 countries and speaking over 30 languages, Invest Korea recently welcomed 35 international students into its inaugural youth ambassador program.

These students will be the faces of the first-ever Friends of Invest Korea program. Over the next four months, they will attend a series of workshops, featuring guided tours and lectures given by foreign-invested companies in Korea.

Through these workshops, the students will become equipped with the knowledge that will help them promote foreign direct investment (FDI) in Korea, mainly through social networking strategies.

These students have been welcomed as “ambassadors” of Invest Korea, as their role in the upcoming months will be to act as as representatives not just of the company, but also of Korea as a whole.

The ambassadors – who study either at the graduate or undergraduate level in Korea – were selected based on a variety of factors, ranging from their academic backgrounds, to their experience with content creation and social media.

Prior to their arrival at the program’s orientation, held from May 9th to 10th in the Korean city of Paju, the ambassadors were divided up into teams.

Through a series of social media and content creation challenges given by the program organizers, these teams will compete to win prizes and individual points. Individual points will be tallied at the end of the program in August, and the ambassador with the highest score will become eligible for an internship at an Invest Korea office in their home country.

Team challenges have ranged from proposing a new social media strategy for Invest Korea to creating a digital poster promoting one of the services the company offers from their location in Korea.

Recently, the ambassadors visited the cities of Pyeongtaek, Incheon and Suwon to learn more about two foreign-invested companies in Korea.

During this trip, they were given a tour of a factory run by Engel Machiery, an Austrian company located just outside of Seoul. Following that, they visited the Solvay Group’s factory in Incheon.

The Ambassadors during a tour of Engel Machinery’s factory in Pyeongtaek. (Photo: Gabrielle Bishop)

The Ambassadors on a tour of Engel Machinery’s factory in Pyeongtaek (Photo: The Korea Herald)

Before wrapping up the day, the ambassadors visited the Hwaseong Fortress, a cultural site located in the city of Suwon.

Prior to embarking on their day trip, the ambassadors listened to a presentation on Korea’s history of economic development. The lecture was given by Dr. Choong-Yong Ahn, the Ombudsman of Invest Korea and a distinguished professor at Chung-Ang University.

“I have learnt many things about the Korean economic environment and realities,” said Ravaka Iharielimampandry, Friends of Invest Korea Ambassador from Madagascar. “I hope this program will help me to find the best company for my future career.”

As of 2012, total foreign direct investment in Korea had reached just over 16 billion USD. While American and Japanese companies are leading FDI in Korea, more countries are investing funds in this fast-developing country.

To follow updates about the Friends of Invest Korea Ambassadors, visit Invest Korea’s facebook page, blog, LinkedIn group or Twitter: @INVESTinKOREA.