metro asian news
Malaysian Association of Georgia Celebrated Successful Annual Gala
Malaysian Association of Georgia celebrated its second annual gala in conjunction with Malaysia’s Independence Day on August 26 at Sheraton Buckhead. The newly appointed Malaysian Ambassador to United States, Her Excellency Datin Paduka Dr. Rajmah Hussain was the guest of honor of the gala. Over 380 guest were treated to Malaysian cuisines, traditional cultural performance, and recognition awards to outstanding Malaysian students and indiviudals in the community.
Suria Awards sponsored by Century Security Bank were awarded to these individuals: Community: An Goh, Corporate: Sean Foo, Entrepreneur: Peter Chang; and student awards: Boon Ching Lee (Georgia Tech), Stephanie Loo (Emory U), Angeline Boey (Agnes Scott College), Michael Kuek (Lassiter High) and Rachel Wong (Northview High).
Andrew Young Issued Formal Apology to Atlanta’s Korean American Community
Former Atlanta Mayor and U.N. Ambassador Andrew Young issued a formal apology to the metro Atlanta’s Korean community at a press conference at the Korean-American Association of Greater Atlanta headquarters on August 25.
Mr. Young made the formal apology to appease angry reactions from his remarks on Arabs, Jews, and Korean in his interview with Los Angeles Sentinel last week.
Leaders representing the Korean American Association of Greater Atlanta, The Korean Grocers Association, The Korean-American Coalition National and Atlanta, National Asian Pacific American Bar Association, Georgia Asian Pacific American Bar Association, Organization of Chinese Americans, Asian American Justice Center, and Korean community attended the press conference.
“Please accept my apology for the unfortunate statements, taken out of context, reported from my meeting in Los Angeles, California. I now realize that this has hurt the Korean Community, especially the Korean Grocers. I take responsibility for the unintended results and promise to re-establish and maintain a healthy relationship with the Korean Community,” said Mr. Young from a prepared statement.
“My comments were over generalized and it is wrong to over-generalized. I assume responsibility for my comments.”
He also requested that he be judged by his life’s work and not by words taken out of context by reporters who were not present.
“I have worked all my life to bring people together, and we have always enjoyed a very good relationship with the Korean people, whether in my own neighborhood, in the City of Atlanta, as Mayor, or in my relations with Churches and Government in Korea.”
Mr. Young attended the press conference by himself and without any company from the African American community and churches. “I did this to myself and I figured that I should get myself out of this alone,” said the former Mayor.
After hearing from Mr. Young, leaders from Korean-American Association of Greater Atlanta, Korean Grocery Association, and Korean American Coalition and Korean Community of Greater Atlanta formally accepted his explanation and apology.
“Without minimizing the damage done by what was said, the consortium of Korean organizations gathered here today, in general and joined by partner Asian organizations NAPABA, GAPABA, OCA, and AAJC, accept Andrew Young’s apology to the Korean Community and look forward to building a life long friendship and partnership together,” said Kevin Park, President of Korean American Association of Greater Atlanta.
Georgia Delegation Visit China to Grow Business, Cultural Ties
A Georgia delegation led by Department of Economic Development Commissioner Craig Lesser departs for a week-long visit to China on August 18 with the goal of opening new business and cultural opportunities.
The delegation’s efforts centered on three major objectives: interviewing candidates and scouting locations for the opening of a Georgia office in Beijing during the first quarter of 2007; continue lobbying for the opening of a Chinese consulate in Atlanta; and continue to support Delta Air Lines’ proposal to bring direct service from Atlanta to Beijing.
“Governor Sonny Perdue has directed our department to find the most strategic locations for our international offices,” Lesser said. “After my trip to China last October, I returned to Georgia convinced that the state needs to have a presence in Beijing. The Chinese market is the world’s largest - over 1.3 billion in population - and is a tremendous target for Georgia-based companies such as The Home Depot, Coca-Cola and UPS. Our focus will be on assisting small- and medium-sized businesses that want to reach the Chinese market, but can’t afford an international business staff.”
Georgia was China’s sixth largest export destination in 2005, with exports to China totaling $979 million, an increase of 482 percent since 1998. In 2004, more than $9.9 billion in goods were imported from China through the Savannah Customs District. Imports from China to Georgia have increased 456 percent since 1998.
Trade to and from China flowing to Georgia through Atlanta, Brunswick and Savannah totaled $12.1 billion in 2005, ranking Georgia as the sixth largest port in the U.S. for imports and exports with China, and the second largest port on the East Coast. According to the Georgia Ports Authority, China and Hong Kong accounted for more than 40 percent of its 2005 trade.
Metro Atlanta Launches New International Strategy
The Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce launches a new international strategy at a half day seminar on August 14 at their downtown headquarters.
The international strategy initiatives comes under the newly formed Global Commerce Council. The Council will be chaired by Gerald “Jerry” Belle, executive chairman of Merial Ltd., a Duluth-based veterinary pharmaceutical company that is a joint venture between Merck & Co. and Aventis SA.
The idea for the Global Commerce Council was formulated last year under an international task force led by John Rice, Vice Chairman of GE Energy.
The council’s two vice chairs will be Jim Whitehurst, chief operating officer of Delta Air Lines, and Kenneth Cornelius, president and CEO of Atlanta-based Siemens One. The chamber also recently named Jorgé Fernandez, formerly with Delta, as its vice president of global commerce.
Mayor Shirley Franklin was the keynote speaker at the seminar. She will be traveling to China in September on a business development tour. Accompanying her on the trip are senior officials from government, business leaders, officials from Metro Atlanta Chamber and officials from NACA.
Ambassador of South Korea Visits Atlanta
His Excellency Lee Tae-sik, Ambassador of the Republic of Korea to the United States spoke at a dinner reception on Aug 15 hosted by the Southern Center for International Studies, the Asia Society, and the Korea Southeast Chamber of Commerce.
Ambassador Lee is the first ambassador to speak in a series of programs featuring Asian Ambassador in program supported by the Coca-Cola Company.
In his dinner remarks at the World Trade Center, he discussed security issues related to North Korea and a South Korean initiative in North Korea to promote economic development.
Ambassador Lee also praised patriotic Korean-Americans who spurred development in his country by investing there in the early years of the country’s economic take-off and then who served as a “gateway” between Korea and the U.S. by promoting trade as far back as the 1960s.
Ambassador Lee said that he already had visited with some 100 members of U.S. Congress to promote a free trade agreement with the U.S.
“We have some $70 billion in trade annually with the U.S. It is high time for us to come up with another legal framework,” he said. “That is why we agreed to launch free trade negotiations.”
Concerning visas, he said that Korea was not a participant in the U.S.’s visa waiver program, which has been granted to 27 other countries, and would like to have the visa requirements eliminated to facilitate trade, promote tourism and encourage visitor exchanges.
Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin Visits China from Sept 5-13, 2006
Mayor Shirley Franklin will be visiting China with members of Atlanta Metro Chamber of Commerce, Atlanta’s business community, and senior officials from NACA. The delegation will visit Beijing, Wuhan, Shanghai, and Hong Kong from Sept 5-13.
“This mission to China is clearly a milestone for the City of Atlanta. China’s importance to the city, the region, and the United States has grown tremendously in the decades since diplomatic ties were established between China and the U.S. It is our hope to demonstrate the great benefit to both countries of establishing a permanent Chinese consulate in Atlanta, as well as direct flights between Hartsfield Jackson international Airport- the world’s busiest, and China. Mayor Franklin and the delegation of government and business leaders will solidify our relationships with China not just in business, but indeed in friendship,” according to Claire McLeveighn, Director of External Affairs and Intl Relations at Mayor’s Office.
The Mayor’s trip is among the latest whirlwind visits by Georgia delegations to China in the past several months. The key objectives of the Mayor’s trip are:
• To showcase Atlanta and Georgia to the Chinese as a top destination for Chinese investments, tourism, trade and cultural activities;
• To promote Atlanta home to the next Chinese Consulate Office;
• To help Delta Air Lines’ push to get the next Beijing-Atlanta passenger air route; and
• To gather more information on key Chinese cities for the first Atlanta Sister City relationship.
“It has been a long process in planning for this trip. Nevertheless, we are excited about this trip and hopes to promote business, tourism and cultural exchanges between Georgia and China. More importantly, we would like to establish a direct Delta airline route to China,” said Lani Wong, Chair of NACA who is in the delegation.
“We hope to explain to the Chinese that Southeast USA has a lot of business exchanges with China and we need a direct flight route from the southeast region. Atlanta will be the perfect hub for the route,” added Wong.
NACA is working closely with Georgia Department of Economic Development and the Atlanta Metro Chamber of Commerce to lobby for establishment of an official Chinese Consulate in Atlanta.
“Georgia has an opportunity to attract large amount of foreign investment and capital from China. China has amassed near a trillion dollars in foreign reserves and they need to invest abroad to avoid inflationary pressures back home,” explained Henry Yu, Managing Director of Global Trade Solutions, SunTrust Bank on China’s appetite to invest abroad.
“In addition to reducing inflationary pressure, China is eager to invest in USA for several reasons: strong financial and legal infrastructures. The Chinese are also aware of the importance of “branding” of their products and they need to invest in the largest consumer market in the world,” explained Yu who will be traveling in the Mayor’s delegation.
“Competition in China is extremely fierce and keen. For most Chinese company to survive and grow, they have to invest outside of China to look for opportunities. U.S. would be ideal as Chinese can use this as base for penetration to Latin America, as well as other countries due to so many tax treaties exist between U.S. and the rest of the world.”
Atlanta Asian Film Festival Announces Film Line Up For 2006
The organizing committee of the Atlanta Asian Film Festival held a press conference at Woodruff Arts Center on August 23 to announce the full lineup of films. A total of 15 different films from 13 Asian countries were announced including a short film and different film genres. Complete listing of the lineup and schedules are available on the festival’s website: www.atlaff.org
A majority of the films are premiering for the first time in US and have earned awards in their respective countries or at international festivals.
The venues for this year’s festival are the Woodruff Arts Center - Rich Auditorium, Kennesaw State University, Mercer University Atlanta, Georgia Perimeter College-Dunwoody.
AAFF will be awarding the first AAFF Golden Phoenix Award to the best film of the festival which will be picked by a grand jury of film critics and judges.
The Premiere Opening Night is Friday, Sept 22 at Woodruff Arts Center. The RSVP event is a red carpet affair and leading Asian community, business, and socialites are invited.
Bridging Diverse Communities within Metro Atlanta
The Asian American Resource Center will organize the second annual Rice Festival: Bridging Diverse Communities within Metro Atlanta on Oct 21 at Korean Church on Pleasant Hill Road. This year’s Rice Festival will bring together various Asian organizations in an effort to bring cultural awareness throughout our community. The Rice Festival is a free event that is open to the public. There will be various music and dance performances showcasing the diversity of the Asian arts, as well as local businesses and organizations to share their products and services with the community.
The Asian American Resource Center (AARC) is a non-profit organization that provides social services to Asian and Non-Asian Communities.
For more information on the Rice Festival, contact Ellie Kim at 770-270-0663.