Korea pushing to develop 'environmental markets' overseas

By Kim Se-jeong

The government has teamed up with private companies that want to sell waste management technologies to Central and Eastern European countries.

According to the Korea Environmental Industry and Technology Institute, a delegation consisting of Vice Minister of Environment Jeong Yeon-man, foreign ministry officials and private company officials arrived in Warsaw, the capital of Poland, Sunday.

“The European Union is giving funds to its members in Central and Eastern Europe, which are trying to improve their environmental infrastructure,” Jeong said in a statement prior to his trip. “We are anticipating a torrent of environmental projects to be ordered, and I’d like the Korean companies to win a chance to sell their technologies and products.”

Thirteen companies were invited to join, including POSCO E&C; Sunil Energy, which specializes in waste management; and DH-M, which specializes in building biogas plants.

Poland, which is three times bigger than Korea, is seeking to generate energy from waste products instead of dumping them. POSCO E&C recently won a project to build an incinerator and a power generation facility in Krakow, Poland.

Vice Minister Jeong is expected to meet Deputy Prime Minister Janusz Piechocinski and Vice Environmental Minister Piotr Otawski.

Jeong will also celebrate the 25th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between Korea and Poland. A business forum is scheduled for Tuesday to mark the occasion.

On Oct. 2, the delegation will arrive in Romania, where the delegates will continue to introduce Korea’s technology and companies to prospective partners.

In Bucharest, the capital, the delegation will host a forum on Oct. 3 on environmental cooperation between Korea and Central and Eastern Europe. Guests from neighboring Bulgaria, Hungary, Croatia and the Czech Republic will attend as well.