Czech-Korean Trade and Cultural Forum held in Prague

On the occasion of the recent visit of South Korean president Park Geun-hye to the Czech Republic, the Czech-Korean Trade and Cultural Forum was held at the Hilton Hotel in Prague on 2 December 2015. The event was organised by the Chamber of Commerce of the Czech Republic in cooperation with the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency. The purpose of the forum was to present the Czech Republic as an ideal location for investment. During the afternoon seminars, the Czech Republic’s investment environment was presented on behalf of CzechInvest, which has helped to bring Korean investments worth CZK 77 billion to the country, by Tomáš Vavrečka, head of the agency’s Foreign Operations Division. The forum also featured appearances by representatives of Czech companies such as Vítkovice Machinery Group and Škoda Auto, as well as B2B meetings between representatives of Korean and Czech companies. Prominent speakers included Czech president Miloš Zeman and his Korean counterpart.

Korean investors’ interest in the Czech Republic is continually rising, which is evidenced by, for example, cooperation in the area of nuclear energy. The largest recent Korean investments in the Czech Republic include the factories of Nexen Tire and Hyundai Mobis. However, Korean interest also lies elsewhere: "We are currently seeing that Korean firms are interested to a greater extent in cooperation at the level of small and medium-sized firms,” says Karel Kučera, CEO of CzechInvest.