Romania-Korea Business Forum at CCIB Palace

Bucharest Chamber of Trade and Industry (CCIB) organized on September 11, in partnership with the Romanian Agency for Investments and Foreign Trade , a Romania-Korea Business Forum, on the occasion of the work visit made by the economic mission headed by Mr. Lee Byeongseung.   Busan is the second largest city in Korea, after Seoul, and has a population of 3.6 million inhabitants. It is also the largest Korean port and the fifth most crowded port in the world. The city is located in the southern part of Korea.   While welcoming the first time presence of Busan economic mission members at CCIB Palace, president Stocklosa made a short presentation of the Bucharest Chamber and the place it holds in the Romanian chamber system, he declared:   “According to the International Relations Strategy, CCIB activities are focused mainly on the development of commercial-economic relations with non EU states. Therefore the promotion of contacts with Korean partners is a priority for us. We have a Cooperation Accord with the Chamber of Trade in Daegu and a Memorandum with Kotri (Korea Trade Intelligence) and today we will sign a collaboration memorandum between CCIB and Busan Chamber of Trade and Industry.”   The presentation made by Mr Park Sukmoo, the vicepresident of Hyoseong Electric Company, an auto part manufacturer, with two factories (near Belrin and in Slovakia) who is now considering a setting up a third factory in Romania, aroused great interest.   The event was followed by the completion of the Memorandum on commercial-economic collaboration between CCIB and Busan Chamber of Trade and Industry and the signing of the document by president Stocklosa, which also marked the coming into force of the document.   The business forum ended with B2B talks among Romanian participants and members of Busan economic mission.   Background information: In 2023, bilateral trade exchanges reached 1.2 billion USD, with 5.5% over the level recorded in 2022. Romanian deliveries registered 0.58 billion USD, a record volume (+35.6%), while goords coming from Korea recorded 0.62 billion USD (-12.5%).   On May 31, 2024, the total volume of bilateral trade exchanges (0.52 billion dollars) regstered a drop by 12.2% against the same period of 2023, due to the drop of Romanian export by 0.12 billion USD (-60.4%) while imports from this country reached 0.40 billion USD (+36.8%).   According to the National Bureau of Commercial Register (ONRC), on June 30, 2024, 289 Korean companies with a social capital of 123.4 million USD, 0.19% of all foreign investments, were registered in Romania placing Korea 31st among countries investing in Romania. (Photo:https://www.facebook.com/)