I am delighted to be here today. This is my second time in Korea. My very first overseas trip, after taking up my Ministerial position, was to Korea in September 1998. Since then, Korea has seen visits by Her Majesty the Queen Elizabeth, and by our Prime Minister, Tony Blair when last month he attended the ASEM Conference in Seoul. I feel that Korea and UK are building up a strong and productive relationship. And I am pleased to contribute to this process, because I believe science, technology and innovation are a key element in the relationship between our countries.
I attach great importance to this First Korea-UK High-tech Industry Forum. As businessmen and policy makers, you will know how important it is to harness knowledge, skills and creativity to meet the fast moving challenges of today's, let alone tomorrow's, global market place. Enterprise and innovation are vital to improving competitive position. They are the keys to the development of the high-tech industries of the future, as well as success in the manufacturing sector. (Therefore, getting businessmen, scientists and engineers, government policy makers and educators working together to think about the future is essential to nurturing the Knowledge Driven Economy and building tomorrow's competitive edge.) In today's markets we must not think only within the confines of our professions, our companies, or our countries. We must think globally, and increasingly we must find the best partners around the world to work with. I hope this Forum will be a catalyst for increasing relations between Korea and Britain in the field of science and technology because there are many good reasons why we should see each other as preferred partners.
Britain has a long history of excellence in scientific research and development. In most branches of science, engineering and technology Britain's scientific community has excelled. In the UK we have 1% of the world's population, we do 4.5% of the world's science, produce 8% of the world's scientific papers and receive 9% of the world's citations of scientific papers. And wherever you travel overseas, you'll meet British scientists and engineers. They have long adopted a 'global perspective'.
In industries which depend on elite science we also have an excellent record of innovations. If you take a look at some of the world's leading industrial technologies, you will find UK firms at the forefront. For example, I came here on a jet powered by Rolls Royce engines, my mobile phone has an ARM designed chip in it and a flat panel speaker designed by NXT, and Marconi have not only won major contracts with British Telecom in the UK for the latest telecoms equipment, but are taking business from Lucent Technologies and Cisco Systems in their own American backyard. I am therefore delighted that all these companies, and the many other world-class high technology firms are in the UK delegation. I could add Formula 1 cars, virtual reality and computer games software, the advances made in biotechnology, pharmaceuticals and healthcare as areas where the UK has world class companies; the list of areas where UK firms are key global players is endless.
The key to success in the new economy is the ability to develop technologies which leapfrog the competition to meet the real needs of consumers. Thanks to British ingenuity and British scientific and engineering skills, there are many companies in Britain which have a strong global position and, as a result, are looking worldwide for potential partners and customers.
This outward looking approach is a British strength. British companies have been amongst the lead investors in the Korean economy since my last visit. And I am pleased to see that the high-technology sectors are well represented in this activity.
And thinking globally is without a doubt, one of the reasons why the UK is particularly successful at attracting foreign high-technology companies to invest in Britain. There are many familiar international names with key elements of their knowledge-driven business strategies sited in the UK.
Korean companies are not strangers to the advantages offered by siting high-tech operations in UK. And some are already taking advantage of the UK's science and engineering strengths; combining the UK's excellence in basic science and applied research and development with Korea's excellence in product development and manufacturing. But when we see that there are over 160 Japanese companies with R&D operations in UK (let alone high-tech manufacturing), but only 6 Korean companies engaged in R&D in UK, it is clear that there are many opportunities which are being missed. With the impressive strengthening of the Korean economy, we hope to see these challenges seized. We must work together to find the best way of growing these partnerships.
Partnership is a fundamental for our operations. We are lucky in the UK to have an integrated Department of Trade and Industry, which pulls together (under one roof) the Office of Science & Technology, the Innovation Services Directorate which includes our International Technology Promoters, with Trade Partners UK and Invest.UK. All of these organisations are focussed increasingly on technological business development, and all are represented in the impressive delegation who have travelled to Korea with me, along with our business colleagues. This is an indication of the closeness of our Government's partnership with industry.
I would like to give a special mention to Mr Seeto, our International Technology Promoter for Korea, who has the task of working with our Post here in Seoul to identify opportunities for technology partnership between Korean and UK firms. Although he is a specialist in the field of advanced manufacturing technologies and electronics, he has access to our wider technology networks so that any Korean or British company interested in technology partnership should contact him with as specific a profile of interests as possible, to permit an intelligent search for partners.
Minister Shim's Ministry of Commerce, Industry & Energy has taken an active and enthusiastic role in staging the Inaugural Forum, recognising that there is a need to develop better government-industry links with respect to supporting UK-Korean technology-business development. We hope that the Forum will grow, and become an annual event where the participants can network, for the benefit of their companies, as well as communicate their needs to the British and Korean government officials taking part.
I hope that you will all take-up the challenge of making this Forum a success, and make the most of having so many business colleagues gathered in one place. I shall meet many of you again this evening, and tomorrow evening, so I look forward to hearing of your progress.
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