By Arye Green/TPS • 16 July, 2019
President Reuven Rivlin on Monday met with the Israeli business delegation accompanying his official visit to South Korea. The delegation included over 20 companies from the health, mobile and automotive sectors, led by Chairman of the Israel Export Institute Adiv Baruch.
Rivlin is in the country for a five-day state visit, working to strengthen ties between the countries. Efforts are being made to sign a Free Trade Agreement between Israel and South Korea.
In light of these efforts, which are a key element of the visit, the business delegation has come to South Korea to advance the bilateral trading links. In 2018, bilateral trade amounted to NIS 2.6 billion, a 20 percent rise over the previous year.
Rivlin also visited the Hyundai Motor Company where he was received by Executive Vice Chairman Chung Eui-sun. The president heard a review of Hyundai’s relations with Israeli companies and toured the R&D facility where he was shown air-cleaning systems, wearable robots, planned single-passenger vehicles and cars that can identify emotions and moods.
On Tuesday, Rivlin met with the South-Korean Minister of Trade Yoo Myung-hee and Chairman of the Federation of Korean Industries (FKI) Huh Chang-soo, and chaired the Korea-Israel Economic Forum.
At the end of the forum, Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) were signed in both the field of trade between the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA) and the Israel Export Institute, and in the field of robotics between the Daegu municipality and the Israel Export Institute.
Rivlin invited the participants to a reciprocal visit in Israel as part of business delegations from all sectors.
“I would especially like to invite the Government of Korea to send a high-level business delegation to Israel led by an economic minister of your government. Today Israel enjoys close strategic relations with Egypt and Jordan and growing ties with the Gulf States and other Arab countries. We see great opportunity in these growing relations,” he emphasized.
“We want to see you in Israel. Let us deepen the ties between our countries and between our peoples. Let us build together a strong bridge between us, a brave bridge to the future,” he declared.
The hope of a trade agreement was shared by Israelis and Koreans alike.
“The free trade agreement will significantly expand our relationship as well as the market, and we hope it will be signed soon. It will give both countries a boost in a variety of fields” said Yoo Myung-hee.
Rivlin added that “as part of the bridge between the two countries, we are trying to promote the signing of a free trade agreement. The signing of such an agreement would be the beginning of a golden age in relations between the two countries.”
