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Over 280 South-Korean companies registered in Romania, in September
A total of 287 companies with South Korean capital were registered in Romania as of September 30, with an invested capital of 123.6 million dollars, the Bucharest Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCIB) reported on Wednesday.
Thus, the Republic of Korea ranks 30th among the top countries investing in Romania.
On Wednesday, the presidents of CCIB and KOTRI (Korea Trade Intelligence) signed a Memorandum of Understanding on economic cooperation between the two institutions, on the occasion of an economic seminar organised by the Bucharest Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCIB), together with the Seoul Office of Trade and Economic Promotion (BPCE), on the occasion of the visit to Romania of the 10-member delegation of the Korean association KOTRI, led by the president Kwang-Hee Hong and accompanied by Sorin Toader, Minister Counsellor at the Embassy of Romania to the Republic of Korea.
The event was attended by Rares-Stefan Burlacu, president of the Romanian Agency for Investment and Foreign Trade (ARICE), Viorel Marin, president of ANAMOB (National Association of Bakery and Confectionery Industries), Florin Vrejoiu, general director of ATIC (Association for Information Technology and Communications), business representatives, entrepreneurs and investors.
CCIB President Iuliu Stocklosa gave a brief presentation of the Capital's economy, in structure and dynamics, and spoke about the foreign relations strategy of the Bucharest Chamber, stressing the orientation towards the development of economic and trade relations with countries outside the EU.
In turn, Rares-Stefan Burlacu, President of ARICE, presented the stage of trade and economic relations between Romania and the Republic of Korea and their prospects. He also pointed out that the Republic of Korea is one of the main trading partners of Romania among the Asian countries (the 3rd country of destination for exports and the 2nd country of origin for imports), and the cooperation actions initiated in the last year during the meetings of the Prime Ministers and the heads of the economic ministries of the two countries offer prospects of transforming them into new mutually beneficial contracts for the companies and firms of the two countries.
According to the source, ARICE will continuously support the development of bilateral economic relations, both from the headquarters and through its representative office - BPCE Seoul.
KOTRI President Kwang-Hee Hong said that the members of the accompanying delegation are interested in identifying business opportunities, primarily imports, in the areas of metallurgy, automotive, IT&C, energy, textiles and clothing, grain, food and wine, as well as the export of internationally well-known Korean cosmetics.
Another area of interest is cooperation in tourism, with President Hong expressing his intention to get involved in promoting Romania as a tourist destination among Koreans.
At the same time, the KOTRI head, who is also the owner of the New Korea Trading Corporation, announced the start of the project to set up a bilateral Romanian-Korean Business Association, which is expected to be launched by the end of this year, after receiving all the approvals from the Korean authorities.
Thus, President Hong will provide the headquarters of this association and will make available to its members a hall where a permanent exhibition of Romanian products will be organised.
"There followed a B2B session in which the Romanian participants in the event were in direct contact with the members of the KOTRI economic mission, exchanging information, commercial proposals and economic cooperation," the press release reads.
On the sidelines of the Seminar, Presidents Iuliu Stocklosa and Kwang-Hee Hong signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on cooperation between CCIB and KOTRI. Thus, it was agreed that in the first part of the second quarter of 2024, an economic mission organised by CCIB will pay a visit to the Republic of Korea at the invitation of the KOTRI leadership.
At the end of August 2023, the trade volume between Romania and the Republic of Korea was 855 million dollars, 2% above the level of the same period in 2022.
In exports, the Republic of Korea was the 12th largest non-EU destination market and the 3rd largest in Asia (after Japan and China) with a volume of 405 million dollars (+30.4%) and a 2.2% share of exports outside the EU, and the 11th largest import market for goods entering Romania from non-EU countries (the second largest in Asia, after China), with a volume of 450 million dollars (-14.8%) and a share of 1.9% in Romanian non-EU imports.