S Korean minister calls on EU firms to consider investment in Kaesong complex
Yonhap News 2007/June/11
S. Korean minister calls on EU firms to consider investment in Kaesong complex
SEOUL, June 11 (Yonhap) — South Korea’s commerce minister on Monday called on European companies to consider investing in an inter-Korean industrial complex in North Korea.
In a meeting with businessmen from the European Union Chamber of Commerce in Korea (EUCCK), Kim Young-ju said foreign companies had plenty of time to build factories at the Kaesong industrial park. Companies can submit applications to invest in the complex, located 1.5 kilometers north of the demilitarized zone that separates the two Koreas, by the end of the year.
"The government urges European Union investors to consider Kaesong," the minister said.
The remarks come as no foreign firm has expressed interest in the facility that South Korea wants to build up as a showcase for economic cooperation between the Koreas.
There are 21 companies employing over 11,000 North Korean workers at the complex, one of the crowing achievements of the historic inter-Korean summit in 2000.
Kim’s remarks also come after South Korea and the EU held their first round of free trade agreement talks in May. Seoul wants trading partners to recognize products made in Kaesong as South Korean goods that can benefit from tariff-free trade.
Singapore has accepted products made in the complex as South Korean goods, but the United States has been reluctant to follow suit.
Seoul and Washington reached a free trade agreement (FTA) deal on April 2, and the two governments plan to sign a formal agreement in the near future and ask for parliamentary ratification.
On the ongoing FTA negotiations, Kim said an open trading partnership could provide momentum for greatly strengthening economic cooperation.
He stressed that in order for "balanced benefits" to be achieved, both sides need to exercise understanding and to cooperate for the resolution of any sticking points.
Two-way trade between South Korea and the EU reached US$79.4 billion in 2006. The EU is South Korea’s second-largest export destination with shipments reaching $49.2 billion, while European countries are the number one investors in the country. As of last year, firms from EU member states invested $40.5 billion in South Korea.
