Good morning (evening), ladies and gentlemen.

I am Kwon Young Jin, the mayor of Daegu Metropolitan City.

It’s a great pleasure to be part of the 3rd International Water Industry Conference 2017 and meet you all who have been committed to resolving the global water issues and the development of the water industry.

I would like to extend my deepest gratitude to all the professors and entrepreneurs present—particularly Dr. Yanjin Liu of American Water, an American water and wastewater utility company, and Specialist Ji An of Trojan Technology—for participating in the International Water Industry Conference.

I would also like to take this opportunity to express my sincere appreciation to Prof. Kim Sang-Dong, the president of Kyungpook National University, for his enormous support in making this event possible, as well as Prof. Choo Kwang-Ho who has been working so hard in developing this conference. I also extend my gratitude to everyone else for their commitment and hard work.

Daegu is a city that successfully overcame water pollution and scarcity issues caused by industrialization in the past. As a result of the continuous efforts to improve water quality—supplying clean water through advanced water purification facilities, using advanced wastewater treatment facilities, and reusing industrial wastewater as industrial water—we revived Shincheon and Geumhogang Rivers, which were once severely contaminated as the BOD level reached over 200. At present, the rivers are now home to otters, Korea’s natural monument animal.

In addition, we will actively work for the development of the water industry, in cooperation with the international water industry-promoting cities that attended today’s event, as well as for the Korean water companies, to help them expand their business to overseas countries based on the water industry cluster project currently in progress in Daegu.

I would like to ask you to give plenty of advice on the Korean water industry, along with having useful discussions to figure out ways on how to resolve water issues and thus offer us a direction for the development of the water industry.

Once again, I would like to thank the foreign professors for making such a long trip just to be part of this event. I wish the International Water Industry Conference to be a more prosperous and productive event. I look forward to seeing everyone again next year.

I hope that you’ll enjoy your stay in Korea and make great memories here.

I wish you all the very best and good luck.

Thank you.

Kwon, Young Jin
Mayor, Daegu Metropolitan City

• Kwang-Ho Choo Chairman of Organizing
  Committee IWIC 2017
• Woong Kim General Secretary of Organizing
  Committee IWIC 2017