A TEAM of representatives from the region's high-tech industries are in China and Korea this week in an attempt to strengthen relationships between the North-East and the two countries.

Senior representatives from regional development agency One NorthEast, the University of Newcastle and high-tech industries, will attend the first UK-China High Tech Industry Forum in Shanghai, taking place tomorrow and Thursday.

It will be followed by a visit to the third UK-Korea High Tech Industry Forum in Seoul, taking place next Monday to Wednesday.

Both events are being organised by the DTI-funded Asia-Pacific Technology Network and will be used to highlight how the North-East is taking the UK lead in bringing together the worlds of academia and business to allow companies to build and maintain a competitive advantage over worldwide competition.

The six-strong team will be part of the British delegation led by Science Minister Lord Sainsbury.

Lord Sainsbury said: "One NorthEast was one of the first RDAs to rise to the challenge when the Secretary of State sought to promote science in the UK.

"I have visited the North-East many times and what has struck me is the revolutionary approach the region is adopting to the science agenda.

"It is a shining example of how funding can be deployed to bring about economic change through scientific research and development."

While there, the team will give presentations promoting the role of the Science and Industry Council; the strength of the region's expertise in research and development and as a location for business incubation. They will also highlight joint research projects between universities, North-East businesses and their Chinese and Korean counterparts.

During the visit to Seoul, One NorthEast will also be hosting a lunch with Lord Sainsbury for the research community to develop closer working relationships.

Neil Mundy, director of integration at One NorthEast, said: "This visit provides us with the ideal opportunity to get the message across that there are mutual benefits to be had by working with a forward looking region like the North-East.

"With many opportunities to create links from research and development to the creation of spin-off businesses, the North-East is the place to forge ties."

He said: "One NorthEast is also delighted to hear that Newcastle has been chosen as the location for the next UK-Japan High Tech Industry Forum which takes place in July next year.

"This will only serve to strengthen the North-East's already strong links with the Far East and I cannot think of a more suitable backdrop for this to take place."

One sector that will be in the spotlight this week is nanotechnology.

Professor Ken Snowdon, director of the Institute for Nanoscale Science and Technology at the University of Newcastle, will be one of the speakers.

He said: "Nanotechnology is and will affect almost every industry sector and the lives of every one of us.

"Like the North-East, China and Korea are investing heavily in this technology and now is the time to establish collaborative relationships with both R&D organisations and industry."

Dr Chris French, technical director of NaREC (The New and Renewable Energy Centre) and lecturer in marine engineering at the University of Newcastle, will be doing a presentation highlighting the capabilities of the North-East's offshore engineering and power engineering industries.

He said: "I believe the North-East's strengths in offshore engineering and power engineering make us distinctly placed to deliver the UK's renewable energy obligations of 20 per cent of our energy needs supplied by renewable sources by 2020.

"This will be achieved through the development of renewable energy systems providing a sustainable future for us all."

Entrepreneur Karl Wat-kin, who was born in the North-East, will give a presentation in Shanghai on the importance of venture capital in business creation and also how British/ Chinese joint ventures can benefit both nations.

Mr Watkin has extensive experience of working in the Chinese domestic market through his Redcomm company, which has a joint venture with publicly-listed company ZTE, of Shenzhen, in the telecoms sector.

He said: "ZTE did not exist 15 years ago. It now employs 16,000 people with an average age of 27 - 85 per cent have degrees, 45 per cent masters degrees.

"Shenzhen has grown from a population of 25,000 in 1985 to 16 million today.

"The North-East ignores this market at its peril, but thankfully is ideally placed to take full advantage of all it has to offer the potential investor."