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ICI Organized a ‘Korea Country Day’ Event for the Textile and Food Sectors

28.09.2021
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The Istanbul Chamber of Industry (ICI) organized a Country Day event for textile and food industries in the Republic of Korea, one of the most prominent economies of Asia. The Textile and Food Industry Opportunities in the Korean Market event was hosted by Vehbi Canpolat, Board Member of ICI via video conferencing and among the participants was Sung kyu Woo, Consul General of the Republic of Korea. The event attracted a great number of industrialists and business people, especially from the textile and food industries.

Vehbi Canpolat, the Board Member of ICI, spoke at the opening of the event. “The Republic of Korea, an agricultural country that emerged from the war in early 1960, is as an exemplary country with its social and economic development achieved in the Far East as part of the export-purpose development plan launched in 1962” said Canpolat. Stating that Korea has been growing steadily for years and is now one of the most industrialized countries in the world, Canpolat added that the relations between the two countries, which started with the support Türkiye gave to the Republic of Korea during the Korean War, have turned into co-operation with ever-deepening diplomatic and economic relations.

“Türkiye's trade relations with Korea began to gain momentum after the end of the 90s with the integration of the economies of the two countries into the international system and it has been growing rapidly since the beginning of the 2000s” said Canpolat. He also reminded that the “Framework Agreement" and the "Merchandise Trade Agreement" for the gradual liberalization of trade between the parties within the scope of the Free Trade Agreement between Türkiye and Korea (FTA) entered into force on May 1, 2013. “The enactment of the Service Trade Agreement and the Investment Agreement in August 1, 2018, the FTA became a structure that would enable the development of commercial and economic relations between the two countries.

“As of January 1, 2020, we have become exempt from all customs duties in exports of industrial products to Korea within the scope of the Türkiye-Korea FTA, the first free trade agreement signed by Türkiye in the Asia-Pacific Region. The commercial relations would be improved in 2023 by the introduction of tariff reductions in agricultural products. And in 2020, the two nations will have a trading volume of around 6.8 billion dollars, with 1.1 billion dollars exported and 5.7 billion dollars imported from Korea”. Canpolat noted that although the trade volume between the two countries is large, the vast majority of this volume is due to their imports from Korea.

Canpolat continued: “It is clear that commercial data is below the potential of both countries and considering the Free Trade Agreement, we should aim to increase this figure to higher levels as soon as possible. The Korean market’s import for 2020 in agricultural and food products is 32.5 billion dollars and its self-sufficiency ratio is 45 percent. It has an imports volume of about 15 billion dollars in textile and ready-made clothing and offers significant opportunities for our industrialists in these areas."

Kore Cumhuriyeti İstanbul Başkonsolosu Sung kyu Woo

“Korea has risen from the decimation of war” said Sung kyu Woo, Consul General of the Republic of Korea in Istanbul. Saying that they have transformed into an industrial country from a poor society, Woo noted that they invested in export-oriented policies and human resources to accomplish this. Woo continued: “We have grown with textiles in the 1960s and continued to grow with the manufacture of electronics, automobiles, petrochemicals, steel, and ships in the 1980s and 1980s. We have prospered in the technology industry, particularly in domains such as smart phones, machines with artificial intelligence, and digital banking.

“The cooperation between Türkiye and Korea has moved to business field since 1957. The Turkish companies are very competitive in food and textiles.”

Commenting that this seminar will open doors for cooperation in areas that have never been experienced before, Woo said they are ready to provide any support needed for the mutual development of economic activities.

Ticaret Bakanlığı Seul Ticaret Müşaviri Münir Oğuz

After the speech of Woo, Münir Oğuz, Turkish Commercial Counsellor in Seoul, gave a presentation on the Korean economy at the panel titled ‘Trade, Collaboration, and Investment Opportunities in the Korean Market’. Oğuz said: “The Korean economy is worth US$1.63 trillion and the GDP per capita is US$32,000. This year’s exports are expected to break the record of 2018 which was US$604 billion.” Oğuz listed key export countries of Korea as China, the U.S., and Vietnam, and the import countries as China, the U.S., and Japan. “Korea is the tenth largest economy in the world and the fourth in Asia. It ranked first in the list of the most innovative economies published by Bloomberg every year for the eighth time in a row in 2021”. Oğuz also explained the areas of export potential in the food and textile sectors.

Afterwards, a panel was organized with a topic of ‘Experiences of Companies Doing Business in Korea’ which was moderated by Mehmet Akif Meral, ICI's Asst. Mgr of EU and International Relations Branch; Teoman Durukan, CEO of Rella Gıda San ve Tic. A.Ş.; Jackie Suh, General Manager of Dimes Gıda San. ve Tic. A.Ş.; Gözde Günay, Business Development Manager of Dimes Gıda San. ve Tic. A.Ş.; Serhat Can, Business Manager of Camp Tekstil San. ve Tic A.Ş.; and Tamer Savcılıoğlu, Export Manager of Emelda Deri Konf. Tur. İnş. San. ve Dış Tic. A.Ş. shared their experiences in the Korean market with the audience. They answered the questions from the audience after the speech.