A. Armonaitė: “Lithuania seeks more active relations with South Korean business”
On Saturday, the Ministry of Economy and Innovation Aušrinė Armonaitė and the South Korean Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy Sungwook Moon will discuss proposals relevant to Lithuania on how to promote mutual trade, economic relations and investments.
“Our country can offer South Korean business a favorable investment environment, modern infrastructure and a skilled workforce. Korea is the largest economy in the world, where Lithuanian businesses could find their niches, but mutual trade is not yet intensive. Recently, a lot of attention has been paid to the diversification of economic relations in South Asian countries, and Korea is one of the most important players in this region, ”says the Lithuanian Minister.
Lithuania’s opportunities to activate mutual business relations in this country should be strengthened by the embassy of our country established in Seoul on September 1.
According to A. Armonaitė, the new impetus is cooperating with South Korean investments in the high-tech and manufacturing sector. It identifies areas for closer cooperation in the high-tech sectors, such as life sciences and biotechnology, lasers, fintech, start-ups and semiconductor manufacturing.
The Minister will also present to his colleague the Green Corridor initiative for large investors, which provides for faster and simpler establishment procedures, competitive tax incentives and less administrative burden on business.
A. Armonaitė plans to invite the South Korean Minister with a business delegation throughout Lithuania. During the visit, our business and innovation ecosystem could be presented more widely to South Korean companies. This would be a good opportunity to sign a memorandum of understanding on cooperation between the Republic of Lithuania and the Republic of Korea in the fields of business, innovation and technology.
The conditions for cooperation are suitable: in recent years, the Lithuanian life sciences sector has been growing rapidly and our country’s goal is to become a regional center of life sciences. South Korea is one of the world’s leaders in life sciences and healthcare – pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, medical devices.
More than 90% of Lithuanian laser companies export their products to 100 countries around the world, including major laboratories and research centers in the EU, the USA and Japan, and our country’s company Light Conversion has already established a representative in South Korea.
The turnover of goods between Lithuania and the Republic of Korea last year amounted to 125 million. According to this indicator, Korea is Lithuania’s 38th trading partner. South Korean business has not yet invested directly in Lithuania.