Catalan president launches campaign in Seoul to promote Catalonia and attract investment 

Catalan president Pere Aragonès has launched a campaign to promote Catalonia to the world and attract new investments. 

At the new Catalan government delegation that opened in Seoul on Monday, Aragonès made a presentation to Korean business leaders highlighting "the ecosystem of health and life sciences" as one of the "jewels in the crown" in Catalonia, with facilities such as the ALBA Synchrotron and Barcelona Supercomputing Center (BSC).  

The president invited twenty Korean businesspeople to "be part of the future of Catalonia," presenting 12 projects in total, including the Montsec Observatory telescope and Hospital Clínic's research center. 

"We are an international economy, open to the world, innovative and at a very high level," Aragonès said during the presentation on Tuesday. 

He also announced that during December, Marenostrum 5, one of the most powerful supercomputers in Europe, will be inaugurated at BSC. 

The government hopes to make similar presentations during future institutional trips abroad. 

Joint work plan 

Meanwhile, the government has committed to work towards finalizing a joint work plan with the South Korean government that establishes "a framework of stable relations" between the two executives, as well as forging business and civil society links. 

The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Meritxell Serret, made the announcement at a media briefing in Seoul, explaining that she and Aragonès discussed the initiative during a meeting with the Korean Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy., 

The so-called 'Korea Plan' will allow "better structuring of relations so that they have more solidity and continuity" to be able to "reinforce relationships of trust." 

Aragonès and Serret also met with the EU ambassador to South Korea, Maria Castillo, part of their effort to "continue intensifying relations with European institutions." 

Emergency management

On his institutional visit to South Korea, Aragonès also met with the mayor of Incheon, Yoo Keong-bok, in the city hall building of the South Korean city.

During the 30-minute meeting with the mayor of Korea's third-largest city, the pair discussed management of emergencies and disasters.

The president remarked to media that Incheon is "very well prepared" in terms of communication techniques, and Aragonès wants to open lines of work so that Catalan firefighters, police and civil protection officers can benefit from "learning to exchange tasks" with Korean city services. This exchange would focus, in particular, on climate emergencies.

In recent years, the Catalan administration has put a greater emphasis on emergency management, prioritizing the "ambitious policy" of communication mechanisms with citizens.

As an example, Aragonès referred to the pilot tests and drills carried out in the last year with mobile phone alerts.