Koreans seek suppliers from Serbia

Serbian export to South Korea, of food in particular, can be increased significantly, businessmen from the two countries agreed Friday, Tanjug news agency has reported.

Stevan Nikcevic, a state secretary of the Serbian Ministry of Finance, told reporters after a meeting with the Korea Importers Association (KOIMA) that representatives of the two countries discussed ways of increasing the current trade volume of USD 200 million by boosting Serbia's export.

Nikcevic said the electronic and IT industries and agriculture are especially promising for cooperation and promotion of Serbia's export.

- Since our two countries are very distant, we also tried to promote Serbia as an investment destination by talking about the positive experiences of Yura (a car parts maker with close to 5,000 employees in Serbia and an annual turnover of EUR 125 million) and other companies, in order to try to attract other Korean companies - he said.

Aleksandar Ljubic, a state secretary of the Ministry of Finance and Economy, said the meeting showed that physical distance is irrelevant when there is understanding between businessmen.

- Since the government's biggest goal is reducing unemployment and creating jobs, today's meeting with the South Korean delegation is an opportunity to use good experiences of Korean companies such as Yura to help our companies break into the Korean market of nearly 50 million people - said Ljubic.

As one of the world's larger economies, South Korea imports close to USD 550 billion in goods every year, which is a great opportunity for Serbian companies, he said.

KOIMA Chairman Tae-yong Shinn said the main purpose of the visit to Serbia is to increase trade between the two countries, which is not very impressive at present.

We want to find new business partners and import as much quality goods as possible, he said.

South Korea also expects to find direct investment opportunities in Serbia, he said.