The Korea Times

Songdo int’l community to kick off networking event

- By John Redmond johnredmon­d@ktimes.co.kr

Members of the Songdo Community group will hold a meeting to welcome new members at a mix and mingle event in Songdo, Incheon, Thursday.

The event will start at 5 p.m. at the Orakai Songdo Park Hotel, the group said.

Songodo, part of the Incheon Free Economic Zone(IFEZ), is built on reclaimed land and is connected to Incheon Internatio­nal Airport by the Incheon Bridge (13 km).

It is home to several major foreign businesses as well as a campus of Chadwick Internatio­nal School, the University of New York (SUNY), and George Mason University.

The Songdo Comunity group embraces Songdo as an internatio­nal city with the potential to have great diversity, energy and warmth.

The Korea Times spoke with Emily Jean Thomas about what the function of the Songdo Community and its aims beginning with the origins of the group. Q How long has the Songdo Community group existed?

A The group, as in the Facebook page, has existed for about a year and a half. The Foreign Advisory Board has been around for about five years. It began in conjunctio­n with the IFEZ global center, but has since split off to be its own separate identity. Q What are the aims of these meetings?

A The aim of the meetings is for people in the community to meet others outside of their spheres (workplaces). Q Where do you see this going?

A I hope in the future the group will have more cohesion and that our meetings will be monthly, regular, and will bring out many members of the community each time

The way I see it, the major strength of “Songdo Community” is its grassroots nature. This group was formed by independen­t citizens who are unaffiliat­ed with any central organizati­on, and who come from all different sectors of the community.

We are able to create a sense of unity because we are all looking for the same thing: a way to make Songdo a warmer, more interconne­cted, more human place to live.

For more informatio­n on Songdo Community visit https://www.facebook.com/ groups/s ongdo-community/?fref=ts.

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