South Korea and Britain discussed measures to boost business ties when their industry ministries held a joint economic committee in Seoul on Tuesday.
During the one-day Joint Economic and Trade Committee session, the two sides agreed to establish a joint degree course on offshore plants at their designated universities, according to officials.
The participants also sought measures to enforce the agreements between the two countries made during President Park Geun-hye’s visit to the U.K. in 2013, where they held the first round of JETCO to enhance economic ties on energy, investment and information technology, officials said.
Hyundai Motor president Chung Jin-haeng (right) and Samir Brikho, CEO of Amec Foster Wheeler (left), talk before the 2015 Korea-U.K. CEO Forum on Tuesday. (FKI)
The two sides also agreed to launch and hold investment forums at London and Doha in July 2015.
The committee session was held on the sidelines of the 2015 U.K.-Korea CEO Forum organized by the Federation of Korean Industries.
“Building upon our cooperation in the past, we must address global economic challenges and strengthen our economic partnership,” said Chung Jin-haeng, president of Hyundai Motor, South Korea’s biggest automaker.
“We grasp every opportunity where the two nations work effectively together and we ensure any barriers to trade or market access issues are addressed,” said Samir Brikho, CEO of Amec Foster Wheeler, a multinational company based in London.
Britain is Korea’s second-biggest investment destination in the EU, with about $13 billion invested in 2014.
By Yeo Jun-suk (jasonyeo@heraldcorp.com)