Investment Promotion
Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA) announced that it has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Italy’s SIMEST at Four Seasons Hotel in downtown of Seoul on March 9 to promote investments by Italian companies in Korea.
SIMEST is an Italian financial institution set up by the Ministry for Economic Development in 1991 to promote foreign investment by Italian companies and to provide technical and financial support for investment projects.
In a bid to encourage investments in Korea by Italian companies, Invest KOREA, an investment promotion agency of KOTRA, and SIMEST will exchange economic and industrial information to seek investment opportunities, provide financial support and information for investment projects, and cooperate in developing investment and technical partnerships in the future.
There are many global leading companies in the cold chain, automobile component, fashion and beauty sectors in Italy but their investments in Korea remain at the modest rate. In particular, their Korean investments have dropped rapidly by 75 percent compared to that of 2013 due to the recent economic downturn in Southern Europe.
Kim Yong-kook, head of Invest Korea, said, “SIMEST is a very influential institution to help Italian firms push into global markets from providing information and consulting services to financial support. When the two institutions expand their joint projects through the latest MOU, more Italian firms will be able to enter the Korean market in the cold chain, automobile component, and fashion and beauty sectors.”