Korea hosted the Korean Expo 2016, Tehran, which took place from May 23 to 25 to follow up on President Park Geun-hye’s state visit to Iran in early May.
The exhibition, hosted by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE) and organized by KOTRA, was designed not only for Korea and Iran to strengthen their economic cooperation following President Park’s state visit to Iran from May 1 to 2, but also to help Korean companies make inroads into the Iranian market.
Iranian Vice President for Science and Technology Sorena Sattari delivered a commemorative speech at an opening ceremony of the expo on May 23, demonstrating Iran’s concern toward improved economic ties with Korea following President Park’s state visit in the first such exhibition hosted by a foreign country since the international community’s lifting of economic sanctions against earlier this year.
The Iranian government is stepping up its efforts to expand manufacturing infrastructure through technology development and “informatization,” with the goal of becoming a top manufacturing power in the Middle East. Iran is also striving to ramp up cooperation in the energy and plant engineering sectors with foreign countries and to nurture the medical care, culture and ICT sectors. Countries are now scrambling to tap the Iranian market.
Vice President Sattari said that the Iranian government proposed that such industrial powers as Korea invest in Iran’s research and development, as well as joining force in exploring foreign markets with Iran. He called for prominent Korean manufacturing companies to engage in the Iranian market.
A total of 81 Korean exhibitors participated in the business expo. They included 20 companies from the power equipment and component sector; 17 firms form the steel industry; 17 companies from the machinery field; and 12 companies in the automotive parts sector.
Korea Electric Power Corp. (KEPCO) participated in the expo, along with 19 SMEs in the power transmission, distribution and generation segments. KEPCO shouldered the cost of operating the 243-square-meter '”One-KEPCO Pavilion,” which KEPCO set up for participating SMEs, who held one-on-one business meetings with local buyers. KEPCO also held a networking workshop in the power sector, inviting local power company engineers and business experts.
The exhibition would serve as an opportunity to enhance Korea’s corporate standing in the Iranian market, and the 19 participating SMEs were expected to hold negotiations on exporting a combined value of about $25 million in goods and services, a KEPCO official said.
In particular, Yessform, an aluminum mold maker, which became the subject of attention from Indian Prime Minister Modi during the “Make in India” Exhibition held in February, also caused a sensation among Iranian construction companies.
“I’m touring the exhibition to expand our businesses to such areas as automobiles and oil/gas sectors,” said Vice Chairman Abolfazi Goudarzi of Golrang, Iran’s biggest consumer goods company, who participated in the Korean-Iranian Business Partnership held in early May. He expressed hope that his company would want to cooperate with Korean companies with excellent technology capabilities.
The exhibition also coincided with a seminar on investments in Iran in which Iranian Investment Organization and Iran Technopark gave briefings on the Iranian investment environment and incentives.
The expo also included diverse events, such as hanbok (traditional Korean costume), virtual reality and interactive games combining Korean culture and high tech.
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