Released by : French-Korean Chamber of Commerce and Industry
On Friday, October 21st, 2011, the French Korean Chamber of Commerce and Industry co-organized with the Federation of Korean Industries, an Economic Conference in the Honor of the Prime Minister of France, Mr. François Fillon. Mr. Fillon was greeted by welcoming speeches by the FKI Vice-Chairman, Mr. Cho Yang-Ho, Chairman of Korean Air and the FKCCI Chairman, Mr. David-Pierre Jalicon, CEO of DPJ&Partners, Ltd.
After delivering his speech related to Europe, France and Korea at the time of G20 in Cannes, the Prime Minister answered questions from the large audience composed of Korean and French business men and women. The debate was moderated by Mr. Philippe Li, lawyer and Honorary Chairman of the FKCCI.
Mr. Francois Fillon is the first French Prime Minister to visit South Korea in 20 years, after Mr. Michel Rocard in May 1991. Along with Mr. Thierry Mariani, Minister for Transports, Mr. Edouard Courtial, Secretary of State for French living Abroad, and Mr. Eric Woerth, member of the French Parliament, Mr. Francois Fillon paid a one-day visit in Seoul to meet his counterpart Prime Minister Kim Hwang-Sik and President Lee Myung-Bak. This visit stresses how important are, henceforth, the French Korean relationship.
In fact, South Korea is France’s fourth business partner in Asia with 7 billion Euros bilateral trade. With a trade surplus for France in 2010 and the same trend in 2011 after seven years of deficit, Mr. Francois Fillon believed that “bilateral trade between France and Korea is maturating”. In July and August, the bilateral trade totaled 1.6 billion Euros, a 64% surge from the same period last year, and during the first eight months of this year, the trade totaled 6.58 billion Euros, a 25.6% growth from the twelve months of 2010 (5.24 billion).
