OREANDA-NEWS. June 03, 2011. Prime Minister Valdis Dombrovskis met the management of the Korea Importers Association (KOIMA) and a large senior managers’ delegation representing businesses sector of the Republic of Korea. Both parties agreed to work on expanding economic cooperation between the two countries.

V. Dombrovskis pointed to the fact that currently the bilateral relations of Latvia and Korea are developing intensively and several senior officials’ visits are planned. On June 8-11 the Prime Minister of Latvia and representatives of 16 Latvian businesses representing logistics, financial sector, wood processing and tourism industry will pay a visit to Korea and meet entrepreneurs and senior officials of Korea. This summer also the visit of the Chairman of the Korea’s Parliament to Latvia is planned.

Both parties agreed that, despite the great distance separating the two countries, the economic cooperation between Latvia and Korea has great potential. The parties are interested in promoting mutual cooperation in the area of food production and processing, pharmacy, engineering and other industries. V.Dombrovskis mentioned that Latvia could become an attractive destination for Korea’s tourists. The head of KOIMA emphasized that Korean entrepreneurs appreciate the opportunity to establish business contacts with Latvian entrepreneurs during the visit and see good opportunities for further cooperation in the area of trade, tourism and investments.

It will be possible to identify new opportunities for cooperation between entrepreneurs of the two countries during the exhibition organized by KOIMA in Seoul on June 9-11, where Latvia will have an individual stand and the visitors will see the opportunities offered by the Latvian enterprises.

At the conclusion of the meeting, the Prime Minister presented the book ”How Latvia Came Through Financial Crisis” to the head of the Korea Importers Association Dr. Ju-Tae Lee, that he has written together with internationally respected economist Anders Aslund.

The KOIMA representatives and Korean entrepreneurs participated in Latvia-Korea business forum in Riga organized by the Investment and Development Agency of Latvia and met State Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Andris Teikmanis. The delegation of Korea is paying a visit to Latvia within the framework of a regional visit. The delegation has already visited Lithuania and Belarus and today will leave for Finland where the visit will be concluded.

Currently, five Korean investors are represented in Latvia, the most important - Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics. In Q1 2011 the export volumes to Korea amounted to EUR 3.9 million, while imports – EUR 7.1 million. Wood and its products, mineral products, live animals and livestock products, as well as chemical industry make the largest volume of Latvia’s exports to Korea.