Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA) held a webinar to discuss ways of coping with foreign countries’ import restrictions and non-tariff barriers on Oct. 28.
The webinar was designed to look at trade barrier trends coupled with global protectionist moves and nationalism, as well as exploring how to cope with grievances and complaints that Korean companies experience by analyzing countermeasures.
“As restrictions against Korean imports and non-tariff barriers have increased every year in the wake of the spread of global protectionist moves, it is important for the government and companies to maintain close cooperation,” said Director General Yoon Chang-hyun, in charge of trade legal affairs policy at the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE), in his opening speech.
The government will do its utmost so that Korean companies are not given unfair treatment in foreign countries, he added.
Speaking about restrictions against Korean imports and non-tariff trends, Yang Eun-young, head of the Trade Cooperation Office at KOTRA, said, “Emerging markets have rushed to introduce conventional types of import restrictions and non-tariff barriers in the recent years, and advanced countries are following suit increasingly with different types of steps.”
“The United States and EU are moving to institutionalize ESG, which has established itself as a new standard of global corporate management, in a national perspective, so Korean companies need to take countermeasures in advance,” he said.
Nam Jin-young, an accountant with KPMG Korea, said, “Import restrictions in major countries, such as the United States, India and China, tend to be institutionalized in favor of their own industries.”
Nam advised that Korean companies no longer recognize import restrictions only in a defensive perspective, but will have to utilize them as growth strategies through the restructuring of markets, such as M&As with local companies.
He introduced major trends of technical barriers to trade, which is of the highest importance among the non-tariff barriers reported to WTO, and how to cope with them.
As to major TBT tends and response cases of complaints, cited by Korean companies, Oh Ki-soo, head of TBT Integrated Support Center, said, “An increasing number of emerging counties, including Africa, are imposing TBTs in the name of nurturing industries and protecting public safety, health and environment, TBT cases notified to WTO are on the rise every year.”
Kim Tae-ho, chief of the Economic Trade Cooperation Headquarters at KOTRA, said, “With the spread of protectionist trade moves, Korea companies will have to grasp information on trade restrictions closely than ever before and the government and the private sector need to join forces in making joint strategies to address them.”
“KOTRA plans to obtain each country’s import restrictions swiftly and inform them to Korean companies and expand cooperation with local related institutions to help Korean companies cope with complaints and grievances they experience,” Kim said.
Global vaccine makers and related investors from Korea and EU sides attend a business forum designed to ramp up global COVID-19 vaccine partnership, hosted by KOTRA, in Brussels on Oct. 8.
Korea Rams Up Partnership with EU to Build ‘K-Global Vaccine Hub’
KOTRA held a business forum designed to ramp up global COVID-19 vaccine partnership at Steigenberger Wilcher’s Hotel in Brussels on Oct. 8.
Among the participants of the event were 14 vaccine makers and related investors from Korea and EU sides, including SK Bioscience, Enzychem Lifesciences and Prestige BioPharma Korea as well as Lonza and Sanofi Pasteur.
The event, designed to expand and ramp up cooperation among vaccine companies between Korean and EU sides, consisted of Korean-EU global vaccine business roundtable, the signing of an MOU on vaccine cooperation between Korean and EU, and one-on-one consultation session between Korean and EU companies. MOTIE and the Ministry of Health and Welfare organized the event.
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