President Reuven Rivlin met today (Monday July 15, 2019), with the Israeli business delegation accompanying his official visit to South Korea. The delegation includes some 20 companies from the health, mobile and automotive sectors, led by Chairman of the Israel Export Institute Adiv Baruch.

 

In light of the efforts regarding a free trade agreement between Israel and South Korea, which are a key element of the visit, the business delegation has come to Korea to advance the bilateral trading links. In 2018, bilateral trade amounted to NIS2.6bn, a rise of 20% on the previous year.

 

The president heard from each member of the delegation, who presented their company and its trading links with Korea. The companies represented are from a wide range of sectors – artificial intelligence, technology to identify smells, safety systems for autonomous vehicles, foodstuffs and others.

 

"This visit has one goal: to build a new bridge between Jerusalem and Seoul," said the president. "The Israeli economy and the Korean economy are not competing economies, but rather complementary:  Israel and its start-up industry is innovative and creative industry; we have chutzpah. South Koreans may lack the chutzpah of Israel, but they have thoroughness and manufacturing might that can only be envied. The connection between South Korea's industrial power and Israel's technological innovation is called for, and it gives us hope for fruitful cooperation in the future."

 

Today, the two countries cooperate through the KORIL Foundation, an industrial research and development fund that promotes joint ventures for both countries. “The willingness to invest large sums in intellectual property and in science reflects the similar priorities of the two countries,” said the president, adding, “South Korea and Israel have become, each in their own way, world leaders against all odds, thanks to business people like you, entrepreneurs and inventors. As part of the bridge between the two countries, we are trying to promote the signing of a free trade agreement. The signing of such an agreement would be the beginning of a golden age in relations between the two countries."

 

Chairman of the Israel Export Institute, Adiv Baruch said that over the coming days, members of the delegation would hold more than 160 business meetings with their Korean counterparts. He thanked the members of the delegation, the staff of the Israeli embassy and the Israel Export Institute for facilitating a delegation that represented these specific fields.

 

Earlier the president visited Hyundai Motor Company where he was received by Executive Vice Chairman Chung Eui-sun and signed the guest book. During the tour, the president heard a review of Hyundai's relations with Israeli companies, including seven subsidiaries that are integrated into the group's manufacturing process. He then toured the R&D facility where he will be shown air-cleaning systems, wearable robots, planned single-passenger vehicles and cars that can identify emotions and moods. The president was accompanied by the business delegation led by the Manufacturers' Association of Israel and the Israel Export Institute.

 

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