Chatterjee joins Bangkok Marriott Hotel Sukhumvit as GM

October 15, 2014

RAJAT Chatterjee has been appointed general manager of Bangkok Marriott Hotel Sukhumvit since September 2014.

Hailing from India, Chatterjee is a veteran hotelier with more than 20 years of experience in the field. He started his hospitality career with the Oberoi Hotels & Resorts as a management trainee in 1992 after getting his post-graduate degree from the Oberoi School of Hotel Management.

Chatterjee first joined Marriott International in 2002 as director of rooms operations, before becoming director of operations at JW Marriott Hotel Mumbai and opening general manager for the Courtyard by Marriott Chennai. He has further polished his leadership experience in several of the company’s brands, with his most recent appointment at Dubai Marriott Harbour Hotel and Suites.

Mid-east carriers power ahead

By Sim Kok Chwee

October 15, 2014

With bigger aircraft coming into service over the next year, the much-feared ME3 airlines are using the chance to enlarge their network and enhance their product. Sim Kok Chwee looks at the trio, plus an up-and-coming competitor

Airlines from the Middle East have enjoyed a growth trajectory that is already stellar by historical standards but to the dismay of their counterparts from other parts of the world, there will be no let-up. On the contrary, the competition posed by carriers from the Middle East looks set to grow.

From orders placed in recent years, these carriers are receiving bigger and ever more fuel-efficient airplanes that further improve the bottom line and passenger appeal. The much-feared ME3 – Emirates, Etihad Airways and Qatar Airways – may just be joined by Turkish Airlines, which similarly aspires to ambitions equal to that already achieved by the trio.

In addition to growing organically through fleet and network additions, each of the four carriers has embarked on its own strategy. Two of these – Qatar Airways and Turkish Airlines – have decided to join global alliances, while Emirates has secured a strategic alliance with Qantas Airways to make it the midpoint on the Kangaroo Route, replacing Singapore, Hong Kong and Bangkok. Etihad Airways takes a completely different tack, electing instead to acquire a whole slew of airlines as well as inch closer to SkyTeam carriers.

EMIRATES

Being the powerhouse of the Middle East, Emirates has sent more than ripples across the oceans of the world. Its growth is phenomenal and is perhaps adequately illustrated by the number it carries.

In the year ending March 31, 2010, Emirates carried 27.5 million passengers. In the year ending March 31, 2014, the number carried was 44.5 million, a growth of 62.2 per cent. This is a feat no carrier of this size could match, and the trend continues with more A380s being delivered and a whole new fleet of technologically advanced airplanes on its order books.

Emirates has now received more than 50 of the 150 A380s it has ordered, making it the largest A380 operator by a long shot. It is therefore no surprise that the airline opened an A380 hub at Dubai International Airport in January 2013 to facilitate the massive waves of connections. Costing US$3.3 billion, the hub has 20 A380 gates with 13 remote stands. This terminal alone has the capacity to handle 15 million passengers annually and comes complete with 202 rooms of four- and five-star standards.

The airline had to temporarily reduced the size of its operation this April and May while maintenance works were carried out at its home base. However, since then expansion of capacity has resumed, with more to come:
• Deployment of A380 to Frankfurt from September 1
• Second daily A380 service to Mauritius starting October 26 – replaces the B777-300ER
• Dubai-Dar es Salaam, Tanzania from 7 to 12 weekly starting October 26
• Dubai-Rome adds a third daily service from October 26
• Dubai-Johannesburg from 3 to 4 daily from October 26
• Dubai-Budapest new daily service from October 27
• From December 1, service to Bahrain from 3 to 4 daily, Doha from 6 to 7 daily, Kuwait City from 5 to 6 daily and Muscat from 2 to 3 daily
• Expansion of A380 services to San Francisco (December 1) and Houston (December 3)
• Deployment of bigger B777-300ER on daily Dubai-Brussels starting February 1, 2015 – replaces B777-200LR

Asian footprint
For its size, it is surprising that Emirates is not serving more Chinese destinations. It currently operates to Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Hong Kong, but in south Asia, it operates to 10 cities in India, five cities in Pakistan as well as Dhaka, Colombo and Male. Clearly India and South Asia are an important market for Emirates, with huge numbers travelling via Dubai to Europe and North America. Australia and New Zealand also represent a key market that Emirates has successfully tapped into with the Qantas alliance.

Where its coverage in South-east Asia is limited to just seven cities, it makes up with high frequencies to cities such as Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur and Singapore. With more A380s and B777-300ERs being delivered, China will probably feature more strongly.

ETIHAD AIRWAYS

Long viewed as the other carrier from the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Etihad Airways is beginning to assert its position as UAE’s national carrier. As is the business model for each of the ME3, Etihad is riding on connections across the world with Abu Dhabi as its hub. As such, many of its passengers arriving in Abu Dhabi connect onto flights fanning out across the Middle East, Europe, Africa and the east coast of North America.

Like Qatar Airways, Etihad is also a late operator of the A380, but the carrier has utilised this advantage to push the innovation boundary in conceptualising its premium class product onboard. The delivery of its first Airbus A380 in the final quarter of 2014 will facilitate its deployment on one of the three daily services to London-Heathrow. By March 1, 2015, the A380 will also be deployed on a second daily service to London-Heathrow and by May 2015, all three services will be operated by the A380. On June 1, 2015, the A380 will head in the opposite direction to Sydney, thus offering a homogenous A380 product along the entire Kangaroo Route.

Etihad is also close to receiving its first B787-9 Dreamliner, which will be deployed next year to destinations including Dusseldorf, Moscow, Brisbane, Mumbai and Washington DC.

The induction of these two types has allowed Etihad to up the ante in the premium class arena, especially with the A380 where the airline will have four classes. In the uber-luxurious segment, Etihad has unveiled The Residence, promising a VIP travel concierge service from the moment a booking is made. Up to two travellers will have a living room, a separate bedroom and an ensuite bathroom – touted as the only three-room suite in the sky. For first class, Etihad’s answer on the A380 is the First Apartment – besides the amenities one finds in a suite, it also features a wardrobe and a bathroom complete with shower facilities.

On the B787-9, the First Suite will offer privacy with ambient lighting, a personal wardrobe, a chilled drinks cabinet and space to entertain another guest.

On both the A380 and B787-9, Etihad will also have the Business Studio, which converts into a fully flat bed of up to 80.5 inches. Every one of these studios will have aisle access.

And in economy, a new Smart Seat comes complete with a fixed wing headrest, adjustable lumbar support, mobile and Internet access.

Complementing these hardware upgrades, Etihad’s home hub, Abu Dhabi Airport, is also constructing a mid-field terminal that will be completed in 2017.

Etihad maintains a keen lookout for strategic assets to acquire – mainly airlines (mostly in different degree of distress). These airlines have been valuable for the feed they provide to Etihad’s own services and these include: Aer Lingus (Ireland), Air Berlin (Germany), Air Serbia (Serbia), Air Seychelles (Seychelles), Alitalia (Italy), Darwin Airlines – rebranded as Etihad Regional (Switzerland), Jet Airways (India) and Virgin Australia (Australia).

Etihad has also actively pursued codeshare arrangements with various carriers, and some of the more recent partners include Philippine Airlines and Air Malta (July) and Gol – a carrier from Brazil (September). It has also formed strong codeshare bonds with SkyTeam members such as KLM, Air France and Garuda Indonesia.

Capacity expansion on existing routes include:
• Karachi, Pakistan (from once to twice daily service starting October 26)
• Kuwait City (from 33 to 35 services weekly starting October 26)
• Astana, Kazakhstan (from 1 to 2 weekly from September)
• Almaty, Kazakhstan (from 4 to 5 weekly from September)

In June 2015, Etihad will also delink its current service to Singapore and Brisbane. Singapore will be served daily with an A330-300 turnaround service while Brisbane will be served non-stop with the B787-9.
New destinations for 2015 include:
• Kolkata (February 15)
• Madrid (March 29)
• Entebbe, Uganda (May 1)
• Edinburgh (June 8)
• Hong Kong (June 15)
• Algiers, Algeria (June 17)
• Baku, Azerbaijan (October 1)
• Tbilisi, Georgia (October 2)
• San Francisco (November 18)
• Dar es Salaam (December 1)

Asian footprint
Etihad currently serves Asian markets stretching from Kazakhstan to South Korea and New Zealand and unlike its fellow ME3 carriers, key markets are China, North Asia, Australia/New Zealand and South-east and South Asia. These markets offer connecting traffic to Europe, Africa and the Americas.

QATAR AIRWAYS

Almost 21 and certainly coming of age, Qatar Airways continues to solidify its position as a pre-eminent Middle Eastern carrier. Having received the first of 10 Airbus A380s on order on September 17, Qatar Airways has set October 10 for its inaugural deployment of the A380 to London-Heathrow, with a second daily deployment scheduled to begin on December 1. Paris too will be served with the A380 on a daily basis starting November 1. By end-2014, Qatar Airways will have received four A380s and is also expected to become the first airline to receive and operate the Airbus A350-900XWB.

On its newly introduced Airbus A380s, Qatar Airways will have three classes with a total seat count of 517. Both premium class cabins are located on the upper deck of the A380, as is a private lounge and a small section for economy class. The main deck is completely configured for economy class.

Going forward, Qatar Airways is planning what it described as a substantial revolution in the business class cabin.

Chief executive Akbar Al Baker promised it will be a “first class product sold as business class”, but reveals nothing of its form and flavour. This move is not surprising given that the airline is following a worldwide trend to reduce first class service. It is also steering clear of another trend towards premium economy class, considering its new economy class product equal to premium economy, “but at a cheaper price”.

In the race to end-2014, Qatar Airways will be adding two new destinations, beginning with a daily non-stop flight from Doha to Phuket operating an A330-200 from October 26. This will be followed by a twice-weekly A320 service to Asmara in Eritrea. It will also return to the Doha-Denpasar route with a daily non-stop service using the B787-8 – this service was previously operated via Singapore.

Capacity growth is also planned for the following routes:
• B787-8 replaces the A320 on daily flights to Vienna starting September 1
• Doha-Bucharest-Sofia from 5 weekly to daily starting October 1
• Doha-Dubai from 13 to 14 daily and Doha-Dubai Al Maktoum from 3 to 4 daily, both starting October 26
• Deployment of a B787-8 to Moscow on a daily basis starting November 1, replacing the A320 on one of two daily services
• Madrid will be served 10 times weekly starting November 16, up from a daily frequency
• A fifth weekly flight to Miami will be added starting November 17
• An additional frequency will be added each week to Nairobi starting November 20
• For the month of November, one of two daily flights to Frankfurt will be operated with the higher capacity B777-300ER instead of the B787-8
• Fourth daily service to Bangkok will be reinstated starting December 16

As a significant portion of passengers arriving into Doha connect to another flight within a short span of time, the airline’s value proposition has become more attractive since April when it moved to the newly opened Hamad International Airport. Although it will initially have the capacity to handle 29 million passengers annually (thrice the designed capacity at the former Doha International Airport), plans are in place to boost this to 50 million passengers per year, with potential for further growth that could place it second only to Dubai Al Maktoum Airport.

Asian footprint
China, Japan and Australia and South and South-east Asia are key markets, with much of its traffic connecting to Europe, the Middle East, Africa and even the east coast of North America. The airline is also strongly promoting connections to Sao Paulo in Brazil. As is the case of most carriers operating to Asia, China remains the market with the greatest promise. Australia too holds promise, but it is a destination that has seen a glut of international capacity. Chinese carriers are increasingly making inroads into this market and pitching themselves as a cheaper alternative from Australia to the rest of Asia and Europe.

TURKISH AIRLINES

The success of the ME3 carriers inevitably leads others to emulate their success. Interestingly, a dark horse has emerged in the form of Turkish Airlines whose home base interestingly straddles two continents – Europe and Asia. A Star Alliance member, Turkish Airlines has inked a number of codeshare agreements including those with fellow members, LOT Polish Airlines and Singapore Airlines.

It plans to increase its fleet from 267 aircraft in April 2014 to 450 in 2023. In 2013, Turkish Airlines’ operating revenue hit US$9.8 billion – a strong 19 per cent year on year. The airline expects this to grow 17 per cent to US$11.4 billion in 2014. Fuelling such lofty growth ambition is the development of a new international airport in Istanbul slated for completion in 2019. The airport will cost a whopping US$35 billion and be able to handle 150 million passengers annually.

New routes and capacity include:
• Istanbul-Malta from 5 to 7 weekly from October 2
• Istanbul-Hannover from 14 to 17 weekly from October 26
• Istanbul-Stuttgart from 25 to 28 weekly from December 2
• Istanbul-Luanda, Angola new twice-weekly service from January 4, 2015
• Istanbul-San Francisco new 5 weekly service from April 13, 2015, which will increase to daily frequency by May 11, 2015
• Istanbul-Chicago with B777-300ER replacing A330-200 starting May 11
• Istanbul-Jakarta served daily with nonstop service. It is currently served via Singapore

Asian footprint
Turkish Airlines has a fairly even spread of destinations in North, South-east and South Asia, but its Asian network currently ends with Jakarta as its southern-most point. Australia and New Zealand are mostly served via its strong codeshare agreement with Singapore Airlines, but signs are evident that the airline has Sydney on its radar.

This article was first published in TTG Asia, October 10, 2014 issue, on page 12. To read more, please view our digital edition or click here to subscribe.

Ascott launches serviced residences in Hangzhou, Hamburg and Jakarta

By TTG Asia

October 15, 2014

THE Ascott Limited has rolled out its first serviced residences in Hangzhou and Hamburg, while opening its second Ascott-branded serviced residence in Jakarta and securing a management contract for its second Ascott-branded serviced residence in Dubai.

The 104-unit Citadines Intime City Hangzhou is Ascott’s 35^th property in China while the 185-unit Ascott Kuningan Jakarta is the company’s eighth in Indonesia, reinforcing Ascott’s position as the largest international serviced residence owner-operator in China and Indonesia respectively.

The 127-unit Citadines Michel Hamburg is Ascott’s fourth serviced residence in Germany, following Berlin, Munich and Frankfurt. The 117-unit Ascott Culture Village Dubai, slated to open in 2017, will bolster Ascott’s portfolio in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) to 12 properties in Bahrain, Qatar, Oman, Saudi Arabia and the UAE.

Lee Chee Koon, Ascott’s CEO, said: “There are significant growth opportunities for serviced residences globally. We have opened two new properties in China and Germany, which are key growth markets for Ascott. Indonesia and the GCC also offer immense potential for serviced residences.

“Having our first property in (Hangzhou) will enable us to capture the demand as we also prepare to open Ascott Raffles City Hangzhou in 2017.”

Lee also added that Ascott has about 60 properties in its global pipeline over the next few years.

Airlines pursue different hybrid strategies to stay lean

By Hannah Koh

October 15, 2014

WHILE hybridisation has been touted as the way forward for full-service carriers saddled with traditional cost structures amid growing competition from LCCs, panellists at the CAPA Asia Aviation Summit & LCC Congress presented a mixed bag of responses.

Peter Harbison, executive director of CAPA – Centre for Aviation, said in his opening keynote address on Monday that in the near future, longhaul LCCs will hybridise – offer both low-cost and premium services – and begin to occupy much of intra-regional capacity.

Azran Osman-Rani, CEO of AirAsia X, on the other hand, baulked at the use of the term “hybridisation” when speaking on yesterday’s panel on how full-service carriers under stress should adapt in an LCC world. “This is my bugbear – labelling airlines purely by the services and frills they offer.”

He pointed out that airlines could offer the same features but remain distinct in their costs, and how the product is marketed and sold. “It’s not necessarily hybridisation just for the sake of ticking off boxes (in what the airline offers) but these products are fundamentally different. As long as there are LCC models with cost structures that are more than 50 per cent lower than full-service models, that difference is key.

“It becomes an issue when you start losing that advantage.”

Garuda Indonesia president and CEO, Emirsyah Satar, added that the market is segmented between those who fly full-service and budget, and the industry needs to face the fact that budget traveller growth is higher than premium customers.

“Garuda created Citilink to compete with him,” he quipped, indicating fellow panellist, AirAsia X’s Osman-Rani. “We want to tap both markets, and the key thing is for full-service and LCC to have totally separate managements. People who manage the LCC should not come from Garuda, because (it’s a different culture). They’re strict and disciplined about cost.”

To maintain airlines’ value proposition in an age of LCCs, airlines therefore need to decide which target market to pursue while also keeping an eye on costs.

Asked if he sees full-service carriers narrowing the cost gap by learning from LCCs, Osman-Rani replied: “It depends where you sit on the spectrum of the mass market, the lowest price point on one end and the highest quality premium product on the other. Once you go international, you are competing with many players in the industry, and the problem is when you are stuck in the middle of the spectrum.

“Then neither can you command that product or service premium nor do you have the cost advantage to compete with the mass market.

Citing American legacy carriers as an unfortunate example of airlines with higher cost structures than competitors that provide better-quality products, he elaborated: “Your business model is not going to be sustainable until you’re on one of either end of the spectrum, you’ve got to make a choice.”

Emirsyah agreed: “You’re either low-cost or premium, and it’s hard to survive in between because your branding is important.”

Carlson Rezidor brings Red to China

By TTG Asia

October 15, 2014

CARLSON Rezidor Hotel Group will debut its new Radisson Red hotel brand in Asia-Pacific with the launch of the Radisson Red Shenyang Hunnan in north-eastern China.

Set to open in 2016, the 300-key Radisson Red Shenyang Hunnan will form part of a twin-hotel development including Radisson Blu Shenyang in the capital of Liaoning Province, Shenyang.

Located in the city’s CBD, Hunnan New District, in Shenyang National High-Tech Industrial Development Zone, the two hotels are also close to Shenyang International Exhibition Center, the Sports Stadium and Shenyang International Airport.

Both properties are owned by Shenyang New Times Investment.

The Radisson Red Shenyang Hunnan will focus on design, detail, choice, personal interaction and technology. Guests enter the hotel to find themselves in the art-themed Hi All Gallery, and interaction is also built into the F&B outlets Ouibar and the 24-hour Redeli, which are open and social spaces.

Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group’s president Asia Pacific, Thorsten Kirschke, said: “The signing of Radisson Red Shenyang Hunnan marks an important milestone for the Radisson Red brand, being the first in the world. We expect to see Radisson Red feature significantly in our portfolio growth in China, as well as across the region, as the brand has a strong relevance to the growing segment of millennial-minded travellers and a compelling value proposition for hotel owners and investors.

“Of the global target of 60 (properties) by 2020, we are confident that half of it will be in Asia-Pacific. This new addition to our China portfolio further strengthens our commitment to China. We will be growing our presence in China, from 13 hotels currently in operation to 41 within the next three years.”

Carlson Rezidor unveiled two news brands in February this year – Radisson Red and the Quorvus Collection, which is a portfolio of iconic hotels.

Amadeus’ new merchandising system to allow for personalised offerings

By TTG Asia

October 15, 2014

AMADEUS is developing a new Global Merchandising System, which purports to let airlines create dynamic offerings at any time, through any point of sale, on any channel, through any device, to reach the consumer.

Delivered through Amadeus’ direct retailing and distribution systems, the Global Merchandising System relays search results based on real-time intelligence and information from both buyer and seller. This gives airlines the ability to develop personalised offers.

Both the new Global Merchandising System and Amadeus’ direct retailing and distribution systems are available to Altea and non-Altea users, and will be compatible with the upcoming NDC XML industry standards.

“The introduction of dynamic and flexible merchandising tools for airlines will give them the opportunity to deliver a unique and personalised customer experience for each traveller and in doing so, could unlock significant revenues,” said Julia Sattel, senior vice president of airline IT at Amadeus.

“Each customer values something different in their travel experience and Amadeus can help airlines to become intimate with their customers’ needs and deliver them the experience they want, increasing both their loyalty and value.”

Research by Amadeus unveiled that airlines are already earning US$50 billion in annual revenues through the sale of ancillaries, and a further US$53 billion could be earned by adopting an omni-channel strategy for the same services by 2020.

It also expects a further US$77 billion to come from new innovation in travel technology in the same period.

British Airways steps up frequency on London-Chennai sector

By Rohit Kaul

October 15, 2014

BRITISH Airways (BA) will increase the frequency between Chennai and London to a daily service from October 27, up from the earlier six flights a week.

BA will also serve the route using Boeing 787 Dreamliner with three class configurations: business, premium economy and economy. Chennai will become the second market in India after Hyderabad where the airline operates the Dreamliner aircraft.

Christopher Fordyce, BA’s regional commercial manager, South Asia, said: “The daily service will give business and leisure customers the opportunity to connect with our extensive global network from Heathrow.”

The growing economy in Chennai will offer opportunities to international airlines, posited Rajji Rai, chairman, Uniglobe Swift Travel. “India is the second biggest market for BA after North America. BA has been seeing a good demand from South India in the past and its frequency addition will help it to further consolidate its position in the region,” he added.

ASEAN open skies dream remains unfulfilled

By Hannah Koh

October 15, 2014

AIRLINES, particularly LCCs, are making inroads in delivering the fabled ASEAN open skies policy first mooted a decade ago.

In an attempt to address the issue during yesterday’s panel discussion, Alan Tan, professor of aviation law at the National University of Singapore, argued that a true liberalisation would ensure seventh freedom rights – the right to transport passengers between two foreign countries without offering flights to one’s home country – in the ASEAN Single Aviation Market.

“Without seventh freedom rights, a Singapore airline would not be able to connect say, the Philippines, with China. But Chinese carriers, with a single backyard, can fly from any point in China to any point in ASEAN, creating an immediate systemic imbalance,” Tan explained.

Citing the same example of flying from ASEAN to China, AirAsia X CEO, Azran Osman-Rani, said: “We’ve circumvented that, bowing down to foreign ownership limits and creating joint ventures to have multiple hubs across South-east Asia, so that we’d be able to use the national rights to fly to China.

“That’s step one, because we need to get to the stage where governments see there are parties on both ends who are not significantly outsized or outstripped. We’ve generated (customer) demand first.

“The issue isn’t defending against Chinese carriers but embracing the opportunity and, by virtue of the fact that maybe the Chinese will start and take advantage of their disproportionate rights, gives us the mechanism to go back to our government and say ‘we’d like to be able to reciprocate’,” he concluded.

Echoing Osman-Rani’s comments during the panel, Peter Harbison, chief executive, CAPA – Centre for Aviation told TTG Asia e-Daily: “What the ASEAN Single Aviation Market proposes to do has in effect already been achieved commercially.”

Pointing to Thai AirAsia and the wider AirAsia network as an example, he remarked that although effective control is obviously coming from the external source and the local partner is usually a sleeping one, governments have looked the other way. “This is what I meant by passive liberalisation, which is driven by the market.”

However, Harbison does not expect much to change in the South-east Asian commercial aviation landscape between now and 2015. “It’s theoretically possible, but commercially that won’t happen,” he said.

Fairmont infuses old Beijing in new meeting package

By TTG Asia

October 15, 2014

FAIRMONT Beijing’s new MICE package for its three Hutong-inspired meeting spaces offers guests a new twist on regular meetings.

The three venues, which total 378m2, include the main Gold Fish Hutong room which can accommodate up to 200 pax in theatre style.

The meeting package includes themed coffee breaks throughout, Nespresso coffee machine usage, and a personal banquet service. Groups can make use of state-of-the-art meeting technology, an LCD projector and screen, podium with standing microphone and two wireless microphones, a whiteboard or flipchart with markers, and other amenities including writing pads, pencils, mint candies, and bottled water.

The full-day meeting package is priced at RMB680 (US$111) per delegate while the half-day option goes for RMB650 per attendee.

Technology, medical science leaders link up at Daegu conventions

By TTG Asia

October 15, 2014

THE South Korean city of Deagu last month played host two two major technology conventions from September 24 to 27, bringing together the brightest minds from the fields of innovation and medicine.

Held at the Daegu Gyongbuk Institute of Science and Technology, the 11th Asia Association of Learning Innovation and Coevolution Studies (ASIALICS 2014) saw former vice chairman of Samsung Electronics, Jong-Yong Yun, deliver the keynote speech.

It drew participation from researchers in local institutions, namely Keimyung University, Daegu Technopark, the Science and Technology Policy Institute, and the Korea Institute of Science & Technology Evaluation and Planning.

At the same time, the city also welcomed the Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine International Society Asia-Pacific Annual Conference 2014 at Daegu Exhibition and Convention Center.

The event was attended by 800 tissue engineering and regenerative specialists from 40 countries, who discussed and presented the most cutting-edge research in the field.

Delegates also went on a technical tour to visit the city’s infrastructure of medical research.

Jeong-Ok Grace Lim, president of the Korean Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine Society which organises the conference, of which she is also programme chair, said Daegu has shifted its investments from the IT sector to biotechnology.

“Local officials have been especially influential in initiating research in this area, providing support to form a research partnership between Kyungpook National University and Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine.”

Lim is also professor at Kyungpook National University Hospital’s Biomedical Research Institute.

In Daegu alone there are 3,000 medical institutions including 12 full-service hospitals, five medical schools, and 48 medical research centres.