Martin Uden

World’s Mayors Meet in Seoul to Tackle Climate Change

Right now in Seoul, the City Government is hosting a meeting of Mayors on climate change, now known as the C40.  The first meeting was held in London in 2005, the second in New York two years ago, and the third is going on now.  Boris Johnson, the Mayor of London, has been here for the meeting and came out a day in advance so that he could look at Seoul’s Olympic sites from 1988 and bang the drum for investment in London and for the Olympic and Paralympics Games of 2012.

Interesting to see how Boris recorded his visit on Twitter and through his new ‘phlogs’.  I think he certainly found food for thought from the way Seoul has kept its Olympic sites alive and vibrant.  The swimming pool was amazing.  Both the 50 metre pool and the diving pool were simply packed – hundreds of swimmers doing laps – and apparently it’s like that all day from morn till late at night.  There was a BBC London team filming him – worth a look at the coverage.

It was interesting to hear Bill Clinton give the keynote at the start of the C40 conference.  Although Al Gore has become identified rather more with the climate change theme, Clinton was clearly just as passionate about it.  As Boris said on his tweets, Clinton was very complimentary about some of the projects in London – and of course the whole idea of a conference like this is to exchange best practice among the cities.

Events like the C40 are important for showing that there are people around the world who are serious about the risks and opportunities presented by climate change. Bill Clinton particularly stressed the imperfections of the Kyoto Protocol and the need – as we get closer to the crucial UN meeting in Copenhagen in December – to work together to generate momentum for an ambitious agreement.

London Mayor Boris Johnson

Posted at 15:56 20 May 2009 by Martin Uden  |  Comments[0]

One step closer to London

This week, we have a guest blog from Jeehyun Ahn, a Press and Public Affairs Officer at the British Embassy Seoul.  Jeehyun is blogging about her trip to London to work as a Media Delegation Liaison Officer at the London Summit.

One step closer to London

I work for the British Embassy in Seoul as a Press and Public Affairs Officer and I was sent to the London Summit to work as a Media Delegation Liaison Officer. My job at the Summit was to work with the FCO press department to assist the official media delegation from the Republic of Korea.

On 1st April, the team of 25 Media Delegation Officers, including myself, had a briefing from the FCO and a walk-through of the Media Centre at the Excel Centre. I was surprised to see just how tight the security was. Police had set up barricades and checkpoints within an 800 metre radius of the ExCel Centre and anyone without a pass was not allowed in. That night, all the Media Delegation Officers worked through the night in preparation for the next day!

At 6 am, the Summit itself began! I met the Korean delegation at 6 am at the Accreditation and Security point and escorted them to the Media Centre. After the VVIPs had arrived, the Media Centre where I was based started getting extremely busy. I had to assist all the Korean media with their requests and escort them to numerous media events. Over the course of the day, I was lucky enough to be involved in the bilateral meeting between US President Obama and Korean President Lee Myung-bak, an interview with Bob Geldof and the press conference of Prime Minister Gordon Brown. At the beginning, it was incredibly busy and slightly stressful; unexpected things happened throughout the day and we had to change our plans at the last minute. But everything turned out to be a real success at the end...

I found my experience at the Summit enjoyable and rewarding. Apart from the fact that I shared the most exciting three days in my entire life with good friends from 25 different countries, I also now feel closer to London and the FCO.

Posted at 17:51 09 April 2009 by Martin Uden  |  Comments[0]

The Olympics – getting closer

I wrote the first of what I’m sure will be many blogs on the Olympics last September just after the Beijing Games.  The global mood has certainly changed since then, but the preparations for the London Games have continued apace. The Games are a fantastic opportunity for the UK as a whole, and particularly for those businesses that will be contributing to the supply chain.  It is estimated that there are still some 70,000 contracts to be awarded valued at around £8bn (US$11.5bn or over KRW 17 trillion).  The opportunities will arise across a range of sectors, from transport, merchandising and ICT, to logistics, security and construction.  I’ve found some surprise that we are encouraging foreign bids for this work, but clearly this is the best way to ensure we get the best value for money and the best Games in the end. I’d certainly be delighted to see as many Korean companies as possible competing for and winning these contracts.

A website – www.competefor.com – has been established to publicise Games-related contract opportunities. It acts as a brokerage service between buyers and potential suppliers.  Any business in the UK, whether foreign or domestic owned, can use the CompeteFor brokerage service as a buyer or supplier of Games-related goods and services. Do give it a try.  If you have problems or questions, the Inward Investment Team in the Embassy stands ready to help as well. Tom Matlock (tom.matlock@fco.gov.uk) can help with this or any other assistance for companies that wish to expand their business into the UK.

Of course, there is much more to the Olympics than just opportunities to showcase world class business expertise.  Over the months to come, I will be blogging further on this topic, but for an introductory flavour of what will be on offer, why not take a glance at this promotional video on the website of Visit Britain.  

Posted at 11:34 06 March 2009 by Martin Uden  |  Comments[5]

Stepping up global economic dialogue

The attention paid to the World Economic Forum seems to grow every year, and this year is certainly no exception. From the UK, the Prime Minister and the Business Secretary all have plans to attend, and from the Republic of Korea the Prime Minister is leading a sizeable delegation.  It also looks as though the two Prime Ministers are going to be able to meet each other, mostly to talk about plans for the G20 Summit planned for London in early April.  Since Korea follows the UK in 2010 as the Chair of the G20 process, there have already been a number of contacts and visits in both directions to coordinate our positions.  I have found it fascinating to be part of some of these talks and hear how we are trying to tackle the global economic crisis in this international process.  There's a long way to go and many issues still to be resolved, but I must admit I would not have expected that in my first post as an Ambassador I would be able to have as my daily business trying to spread the word about climate change and also being a small part of attempts to mitigate the effects of one of the worst global economic downturns ever seen.  It's a privilege to be some part of this - even if I'm not in Davos.

Posted at 12:43 30 January 2009 by Martin Uden  |  Comments[0]