OREANDA-NEWS. October 01, 2009. The trade between Belarus and South Korea does not meet the potential of the economies of the two countries, Belarusian Prime Minister Sergei Sidorsky noted during his meeting with Chairman of the Korean Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Chairman of CJ Group Company Sohn Kyung-Shik in Minsk, reported the Official website government.by.

“Gradually, the trade between Belarus and Korea is increasing. It has reached more than US200 million. In our opinion, the bilateral trade does not meet the potential of our economies, the potential which could be reached. Surely, we have the possibility to boost the mutual supplies to our markets, improve our cooperation,” Sergei Sidorsky said.

In 2007, during a visit of the Belarusian Premier to Seoul, Belarus and South Korea considered the prospects of the development and cooperation of both the countries in machine construction, electronics and finance area. “Today, we could discuss and arrange the reached agreements,” Sergei Sidorsky noted. Belarus and South Korea expand their sci-tech and investment possibilities, develop contacts in other branches of the economy, cooperate in education and sport area.

The Belarusian Prime Minister noted the good contacts established between the Belarusian Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Korean Chamber of Commerce and Industry. Businessmen of both the countries establish contacts at the level of administrations of Minsk and Seoul, actively develop the joint projects related to science and technologies. Sergei Sidorsky has offered Korean CJ Group to develop cooperation. CJ Group includes 27 companies engaged in food industry, biotechnology and pharmaceutics, entertainment and multimedia, electronic trade and logistics, construction of infrastructure systems and facilities.

South Korea is interested in cooperating with Belarus in the trade and investments, Chairman of the Korean Chamber of Commerce and Industry Sohn Kyung-Shik said as he met with Prime Minister of Belarus Sergei Sidorsky. “We are going to boost bilateral cooperation in trade and investments. We also see a huge potential in developing cooperation in technologies,” Sohn Kyung-Shik said.

According to the Korean official, an exchange in visits of businessmen is extremely important for developing the cooperation between Belarus and Korea. Now Belarus is hosting a delegation of Korean businessmen consisting of ten representatives of the regional chambers of commerce and industry and members of the CJ Company. The Korean side has already invited a delegation of the Belarusian Chamber of Commerce and Industry to return the visit.

According to Sohn Kyung-Shik, the economies of Belarus and Korea are complementary, the countries have a big potential for stepping up cooperation. Among Belarus’ advantages Sohn Kyung-Shik named its geographic position, the formation of the Customs Union with the CIS countries, safety and favorable terms for business activity. “I think these favorable conditions will help expand the cooperation,” he said.

In 2008 the trade between Belarus and South Korea totaled US207.182 million, 44.2% up from 2007. In January-July 2009 the mutual trade made up US 58.451 million (51.9% to January-July 2008). Over the seven months of 2009 the export soared 26.6% as against the same level of 2008 and the import increased by 55.4%.