[By NBC-1TV H. J Yook]The 2011 EU Gateway Programme Construction & Building Technologies and Environment & Energy-related Technologies business mission, comprising 51 specially selected European SMEs, will visit Korea 6–10 June. The mission week in Seoul will include an exhibition at the COEX Convention Center Grand Ballroom on Tuesday 7 and Wednesday 8 June, business meetings with potential Korean partners throughout the week, and tours of sector-related Korean facilities.

Funded and managed by the European Union, the EU Gateway Programme is a business development programme that promotes partnerships between SMEs from the twenty-seven EU member states and Korean companies. Participating European companies possess outstanding technologies and products in their field and receive comprehensive support aimed at developing business relations with Korean counterparts. The Programme, which started in 2009, will continue in its initial phase until 2014.

In 2011 more than ninety EU companies in three industry sectors — Construction & Building Technologies, Environment & Energy-related Technologies, and Healthcare & Medical Technologies — are due to visit Korea as part of the Programme. 29 companies in the construction and building sector and 22 in the environment and energy sector will participate in the June mission. Indicating the high degree of interest in the Korean market, sixteen of the companies (31 percent) are visiting Korea for a second or third time with the Programme.

With increased interest in disaster prevention, particularly following the recent earthquake in Japan, the exhibition will feature a variety of European technologies and products related to shock, vibration and seismic resistance, as well as interior and exterior construction materials and building-related solutions. Companies in the environment and energy field will also showcase new and renewable energy solutions, water treatment systems, energy-saving devices, and other advanced technologies and products complying with international environmental policies and standards.