Invest KOREA

- KOTRA and ECCK Hold Welcoming Ceremony for Grow Together
- Grow Together Promotes Integrated Volunteer Activities with Cooperation from Foreign Investment Promotion Agencies, Foreign-Invested Companies and University Students

The Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA) and the European Chamber of Commerce in Korea (ECCK) held a welcoming ceremony last Friday for Grow Together, a group of university student volunteers who strive to improve the perception of foreign investment through corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities with the cooperation of foreign investment promotion agencies. This year, 50 outstanding university students, from the Seoul metropolitan area as well as Daejeon, Daegu, Gwangju, Busan and other cities, were selected.

Fifty university students and about 150 participants, including officials from Invest KOREA and ECCK and executives and members from ING, Allianz and other European companies, attended the ceremony.

Compared to other volunteer groups in which university students participate only in activities organized by agencies, Grow Together allows students to actively plan and suggest activities, according to Pyo Si-hyung, a student at Dongguk University. The program required participants to submit volunteer activity plans. Despite concerns that not many would participate due to this requirement, the secretariat of Grow Together observed among the students great passion and willingness to contribute socially through document screenings and interviews.

Invest KOREA Commissioner Kiwon Han noted that KOTRA, the ECCK and Grow Together will select volunteer activities suggested by the students to support vulnerable groups from the end of September to November, adding that IK will provide the students with continuous volunteering opportunities that help grow agencies, companies, students and regional societies.


Source: KOTRA Investment Administration Team (September 16, 2013)