On March 25, a special lecture about doing business in Ecuador was held in Room 604 of the Science Building. It was hosted by the Department of Global Service. A director and Commercial Consular, Mr. Jorge Luis Gallegos, and International Academic Cooperation Coordinator Ms. Diana Vizcaino from the Ecuador Embassy in Korea were invited. Mr. Gallegos provided listeners with basic information about Ecuador and advantages of doing business in the country. He discussed its geographical condition, access to water (the Amazon River), and the nation’s economic growth rate. Gallegos said that, since Ecuador is located in the northern part of South America, the nation provides easy access to the 1 billion people residing in South America. Especially, the fisheries and agriculture industries are responsible for a large percentage of actual exports. He also emphasized that Ecuador invests heavily in its nature as well as talent by cooperating with international companies. Ecuador also promotes job equality for women and the disabled and works for workers’ rights to ensure there is no discrimination or intimidation in the workplace. “People usually think that Ecuador is an undeveloped country, but Ecuador is one of the strong economies in Latin America,” he said. The economic growth rate of Ecuador is similar to China, and the GDP of Ecuador supports this fact. Moreover, Gallegos introduced to attendees several global leading women CEOs from Ecuador. He introduced Carala Barbotó, president of Pacari Chocolate, Caterina Costa, Vice-President of Poligrup, and Isabel Noboa, Executive President of Nobis Consortinum. These women are powerful female leaders today. One of the attendees, Lee Sumin, Department of English Language ＆ Literature ‘19, said “It was interesting to learn about Ecuador’s development both economically and socially. I learned about the potentiality of Ecuador and its attractive business features.” The lecture was useful for students interested in global business as it provided them with the chance to learn more thoroughly about Ecuador.
