Park Jin-woong, consul general of South Korea in Qingdao, shares his enthusiasm during a media interview in Jinan at the 2019 East Asia Exposition. [Photo/ijinan.jinannews.cn]

A great deal of fulsome praise was lavished on the 2019 East Asia Expo, which ended recently, by visiting business executives and dignitaries, according to the organizers.

"At this year's expo, I met with more exhibitors and the scale is much larger than last year," said Park Jin-woong, consul general of South Korea in Qingdao at the expo.

The event was held in Jinan, capital city of East China's Shandong province from July 5-7, drawing the participation of more than 500 companies from 56 countries and regions.

Park said he had witnessed the growth from South Korea Expo to East Asia Expo over the past few years. He believes that the expo will have an important influence not only in China, but also in the East Asian region.

He also spoke highly of the city's favorable business environment. Its ten major industries are all booming including big data, intelligent manufacturing and high-end equipment, quantum technology, biomedicine and health care.

South Korea, meanwhile, is also relatively developed in semiconductor, electronics information and the communications industries.

The two sides have great potential for further cooperation in the fields of information and communications technology.

Park said the East Asia Expo was a good exchange platform to promote mutual cooperation between Jinan and South Korea.

Official data showed that this year's expo attracted more than 1,900 professional buyers from across the world with a total turnover of 4.63 billion yuan ($671 million) and retail sales of nearly 1.1 billion yuan.