Seminar
Discovering South Korea and Japan without visiting the countries, this was the objective of the recently held seminar organized by the Luxembourg Chamber of Commerce. Dealing with both Asian countries and especially doing business in a totally different business culture needs serious preparation. Since it is one of the Chamber’s core roles, to assist Luxembourg companies going abroad and developing new markets far away from home, it was a logic step that the Chamber had to arrange such a seminar. Especially in view of the upcoming mission to Korea and Japan (5-11 October 2014) the Chamber of Commerce gathered market specialists in order to brief the entrepreneurs about both markets and to highlight the various opportunities Korea and Japan have to offer.
The first part of the seminar showcased South Korea’s economic performance and outlined the excellent framework which exists since the entry into force of the EU-South Korea Free Trade Agreement 3 years ago. But the true success story of South Korea has been explained in-depth by the Deputy Head of Mission of the South Korean Embassy in Brussels, Mr Yong Ho Kim. The combination of innovation and “decent” manufacturing forged the entrepreneurial eco-system in Korea over the last decades and helped the country to achieve its pre-crisis growth rates in 2012. Numerous support organisations help European business people to get more familiar with the Korean business environment and the seminar was therefore the ideal platform to present KOTRA (Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency), KIC (Korea Research and Innovation Centre) and the Korean Cultural Centre, all based in Brussels, but assisting Luxembourg companies as well to enter the Korean market.
The second part of the seminar on Japan was attended by HE Ms Atsuko Nishimura, Ambassador of Japan to the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. During her opening speech, she underlined the long political relations between Japan and Luxembourg and invited the seminar participants to head to Japan and to experience on their own, how Japan is reshaping its economy thanks to the three pillar strategy of Prime Minister Abe’s reform program called: Abenomics. All speakers in the Japan panel made it clear, an opening up of the Japanese economy is a necessary evidence if growth rates of previous decades are the announces target. The concept of “revitalisation” was present in all the presentations given by representatives from the Embassy, from JETRO (Japan External Trade Organization) and from the EU-Japan Centre for Industrial Cooperation and pairs with the numerous opportunities for foreign companies to enter the Japanese market.
If you need further information or if you want to join the Korea-Japan mission, feel free to contact korjap2014@cc.lu