KOREAN VISIT TO PORT OF RAMSGATE

A delegation from the South Korean government has visited the Port of Ramsgate and Ramsgate Royal Harbour Marina.

The delegation of 17 people, which visited on Wednesday (21 October), was led by Yong-Gynn Jung, Deputy Director of the Ministry for Food, Agriculture Forestry and Fisheries. Its members included leaders from Korean business, maritime engineers and representatives of the fishing industry.

He explained that the principal interest was learning from European Union experience about how coastal towns could prosper from marina development, whilst retaining an active fishing industry and strengthening existing local business.

The delegation had already visited Boulogne and was scheduled to visit Brighton before returning home.

Director of Regeneration Services, Brian White, said: "We had a very positive meeting with the delegation from South Korea, who were very enthusiastic and complimentary about the range of different businesses successfully operating around the port and marina. It seems that coastal towns in South Korea have experienced the same economic problems as those in the UK, in their case because of decline in fishing. The delegation was particular interested in how our historic Royal Harbour had become the one of the best marinas in Kent. Much of that is down to the huge variety of businesses we have using the harbour and that's an aspect that the delegation were very interested to hear more about."