There are great opportunities in sectors such as energy, where the Asian country wants to move from 3.5% renewable energy to 7% in just four years, with a public investment of 36,000 million dollars.
South Korea appears as an important market for Basque companies. The Minister of Economic Development and Infrastructure points out that it is a market "that opens doors to a really important trade". South Korea is the eleventh world economy.
During a day organized by the SPRI group, the ambassador in Spain Hee-kwon Park has described the Basque Country as "a reference region for trade and investment" and highlighted the similarities between both countries.
There are great opportunities in sectors such as energy, precisely one of the strategic areas defined by the Basque Government to strengthen the industry, where South Korea wants to move from 3.5% renewable energy to 7% in only four years, with an investment Public debt of $ 36 billion
The Basque Government is looking for new business opportunities for the industry in South Korea, the eleventh world economy. The Minister of Economic Development and Infrastructure, Arantxa Tapia, has advocated to deepen the relationship. "Euskadi wants to collaborate and grow" with the Asian country and "be present in the world together. Euskadi wants to be an important industrial country".
The Korean ambassador has called the Basque Country "a reference region for trade and investment" and highlighted the similarities between the two countries whose economies are based on industry, with a strong weight of steel, automotive and construction naval. "We have both made a decisive commitment to internationalization and dedicate a great effort to research and technological innovation."
Ki Joong Kim, director in Madrid of Kotra, the Korean business development agency (similar to the SPRI Group), has highlighted the possibilities of business with his country. South Korea makes annual imports worth 500,000 million euros and only 0,4%, about 2,000 million, are made in Spain. "There are great opportunities," he said, among which the energy sector has cited, which is precisely one of the strategic areas defined by the Basque Government to strengthen the industry. "Our country wants to move from 3.5 percent renewable energy to 7 percent in just four years, with a $ 36 billion Korean government investment."
Iñaki Antoñanzas, head of Asia at Fagor Automation, explained his experience in South Korea, where his company has been in place since 1996. "Compared to other Asian countries, it is much easier to start. The technological and educational level is very great. " Antoñanzas has recommended "a lot of patience" when closing the business and has emphasized that the Koreans value much "the personal relationship. Among Asians, they are the closest to us. "
Korea is the 11th world economy with a GDP per capita of 32,000 dollars (slightly above the Spanish economy) and 50 million inhabitants, which makes it a potential customer of the Basque industry in Asia. Its sectoral economic development structure largely coincides with the Basque industrial map with 40% of its GDP originating in the manufacturing sector, especially in the steel smelting, shipbuilding, automotive and electronics sectors, More specifically semiconductors. It is estimated that the Korean economy has a growth potential of 3% in the coming years.
Its growth is based on the private consumption of families and households with a strong drag of imports from other countries and especially from Europe. The European Union signed a Free Trade Agreement with South Korea which entered into force in July 2011. It is the only agreement of this type with Asia and involves the practical disappearance of tariffs for most export products.
Euskadi exports 189.2 million to Korea and ranks 24th among client countries, while the Asian country exports 94.5 million euros to the Basque Country, the 32nd place among the countries that export to Euskadi.
