Koo Ja-yeol: "We Must Discover and Foster Future Growth Engines with New Northern Countries"

Korea International Trade Association Holds 3rd Northern Forum Business Session
Proposes Responses to Post-Pandemic Value Chain Changes and Green Cooperation Measures

Koo Ja-yeol, Chairman of the Korea International Trade Association
[Photo by Korea International Trade Association]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Heung-soon] "To embark on a new 30 years with the New Northern countries, we must actively pursue a mutually beneficial strategy to jointly discover and foster future growth engines."

At the business session of the '3rd Northern Forum' held on the 18th at the Shilla Hotel in Seoul, Koo Ja-yeol, Chairman of the Korea International Trade Association (KITA), emphasized, "Our country and the New Northern countries have achieved remarkable growth in various fields including politics, economy, society, and culture through active exchanges over the past 30 years since establishing diplomatic relations."

On the same day, KITA hosted the Northern Forum business session to discuss measures to respond to the changed value chain after the COVID-19 pandemic, the transition to a green economy, and future cooperation visions with Eurasian countries.

Kim Taek-hyun, Head of Overseas Sales at Kyungdong Navien, who presented a successful case of Korean companies entering the New Northern market, introduced, "We have established ourselves as a leading company in the Russian market by actively localizing based on our technological capabilities. Recently, with growing environmental interest, we are leading the eco-friendly heating market by utilizing cutting-edge technologies such as the Internet of Things (IoT) and globally recognized condensing technology, actively participating in responding to the climate change crisis."

Ilkom Haidarov, Chairman of the Uzbekistan Textile Association, stated, "Since the opening of the Korea-Uzbekistan Textile Technopark in 2019, we have continued cooperation through technology transfer, joint research and development (R&D), and operation of startup incubation centers. The Textile Technopark faithfully serves as the central hub of the textile supply chain in Central Asia, and cooperation with Korea has greatly contributed to the digitalization and eco-friendly technological advancement of Uzbekistan's textile industry."

Alexander Fedorovsky, Director of the Russian Institute of World Economy and International Relations (IMEMO), who participated as a panelist in the session, said, "Since COVID-19, there have been many changes in trade between Korea and Russia, including the activation of the e-commerce market. In particular, with the increased demand for remote education and remote medical services, many changes in the value chain are expected based on the 'servitization of products.'"

Dinara Kemilova, Ambassador of Kyrgyzstan to Korea, advised, "Despite the COVID crisis, trade between Korea and Kyrgyzstan increased by 46.1% compared to the previous year until September this year, indicating great potential for further expansion of trade and investment between the two countries. Kyrgyzstan pursues sustainable economic growth through fostering future industries such as climate, agriculture, health, and digital/ICT sectors. Since Korea possesses excellent technological capabilities in these fields, the New Northern policy to expand economic cooperation opportunities between the two countries should be continuously promoted."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.