“Doing Business in South Korea” webinar to support Greek exporters

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Doing business in South Korea

As part of its ongoing program of support to Greek exporters, especially at such trying times, Enterprise Greece held the webinar “Doing Business in South Korea – COVID 19 Challenges and Opportunities” in collaboration with the Office of Economic and Commercial Affairs of the Greek Embassy in Seoul on 21 October 2020.
South Korea is an important strategic market for Greece, and Enterprise Greece has been building the trade relationship between the two countries for several years now. In spite of the great strides Greek exporters have made in this market, there remains significant potential for further exports. Greek products with particularly positive prospects are food and beverages, construction materials such as marble and aluminum products, and fur.

An important initiative

The “Doing Business in…” series of webinars began in June with three webinars for the US market and continued with a webinar for Germany in early October and for South Korea.
Betty Alexandropoulou, Managing Director and Executive Board Member of Enterprise Greece, said that “Even during this difficult time for our economies, Greek exports to South Korea rose significantly, as well as to Japan and our key European trading partners. Food & beverage has been a particularly high-performing export sector for Greece. In fact, even in the midst of the COVID crisis, we are seeing a jump in fruit exports, for example, as consumers worldwide focus on healthy lifestyles and diets, and seek out trusted producers like Greece. But pharmaceuticals, beauty products, building materials, and maritime equipment, to name a few examples, play important roles in the country’s export profile as well.”
Konstantinos Dikaros, counselor for economic and trade affairs in Seoul, added: “Compared to other developed countries and amid an international economic crisis, the economic situation in South Korea appears to have stabilized. The country is expected to close 2020 with a reduction in GDP that will not exceed 1%. With a few exceptions, such as alcohol and fur products, almost all of our exports to South Korea have increased, despite the pandemic. South Korea presents a great potential for Greek exporters and we stand ready to provide any information or assistance they need.”
Finally, Joong-Hyun Jough, Head of the International Cooperation Office of the Korean Importers Association, spoke about how Korean Importers work, while Jay Jungwook Jang, CEO of IMEX GLOBAL, presented a profile of the South Korean consumer, and Nikolas Lambropoulos of AMACS-Goutis Estate spoke about his own business experience in South Korea.