Michael Reiterer, Ambassador of the European Union to the Republic of Korea, attended the press conference organised by the European Chamber of Commerce in Korea (ECCK) on its release of the fifth edition of 'ECCK White Paper' together with Dimitris Psillakis, Chairperson of ECCK and President & CEO of MErcedes-Benz Korea.

Ambassador Reiterer delivered congratulatory remarks in which he commented on the importance of the ECCK White Paper. "The European Commission values very much the extensive work done by ECCK, which, year-after-year is becoming a benchmark of the ease of doing business in Korea." He also went on to saying "360 ECCK member companies contributed to Korea's economy by generating 71 trillion won in annual sales and 50,000 jobs in Korea. Since the entry into force of the Korea-EU Free Trade Agreement in 2011, annual trade has increased by 50% to EUR 100 billion.” He also stressed, “As important investment and trading partners for each other, European companies in Korea should be treated equally without discrimination.”

After the press conference, the Ambassador and ECCK held a luncheon meeting with Yoo Myung-hee, Minister for Trade of Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE). With 50 representatives of ECCK member companies and European embassies in attendance, ECCK officially delivered the ‘ECCK White Paper 2019’ to Minister Yoo.

During the bilateral meeting with the EU Ambassador, Minister Yoo confirmed interest in the modernisation of the EU-RoK FTA, but underlined the importance of investment in Korea. Minister Yoo expressed Korea's keenness to attract FDI to innovative industries and materials and components sector. She referred to the Foreign Investment Act, which has been adopted by the government and has just been tabled for adoption at the National Assembly. MOTIE Director Jeonghwa Kim said the reinvested profits will be regarded as FDI and eligible for government support under the Foreign Investment Promotion Act. 

During the Q&A session, Director Kim also said that "we probably all agree that the EU-RoK FTA should be modernised," and that the "Director-level working group on the EU-RoK FTA modernisation should meet again, in line with April 2019 Trade Committee conclusions." Minister Yoo added that "a balance of interests" needs to be respected, and that there is indeed, a need to re-launch working-level discussions.