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Park calls for efforts to sign formal deals with Mexico and Iran

May 11, 2016

President Park Geun-hye speaks at a meeting with business leaders on the results of her recent trips to Iran and Mexico in Seoul on May 11, 2016. (Yonhap)

SEOUL (Yonhap) — President Park Geun-hye on Wednesday called on South Korean business executives to ensure that they can sign formal deals with their Mexican and Iranian counterparts.

South Korea hopes that its companies would win some of the massive infrastructure projects under way in the two countries by taking advantage of Park’s recent trips there.

Mexico is pushing for projects worth US$590 billion to modernize such sectors as energy, transport and water resources management.

Park has garnered potential economic gains from her trip to Tehran as she and her Iranian counterpart Hassan Rouhani observed the signing of numerous memorandums of understanding worth up to $45.6 billion.

Iran has emerged as a promising destination for foreign investment after the U.N. lifted sanctions in the follow-up to a landmark deal reached with the United States and five world powers over Tehran’s disputed nuclear program.

Park described economic achievements from her recent trip to Mexico and Iran as “just a beginning” and asked business executives to take follow-up measures such as signing formal deals.

Park also vowed to provide all resources to South Korean companies to help them win infrastructure projects.

Park made the comments in a meeting with hundreds of officials, business leaders and executives on how to capitalize on business-related headway made during her recent trips to Mexico and Iran.

The participants included business executives and leaders who accompanied Park on her visit to Mexico and the Islamic Republic.

President Park Geun-hye (C) makes comments in a meeting with hundreds of officials, business leaders and executives at the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry on May 11, 2016. (Yonhap)

She asked business executives to maintain trust with their foreign counterparts, calling the trust built by South Korean companies in Kuwait and other Middle East countries a “priceless asset.”

Park also said South Korea should diversify its export items by taking advantage of free trade deals and the Korean Wave that has gained wide popularity in many countries around the world.

South Korea has clinched a series of free trade agreements with major trading partners, including the U.S., in recent years as part of its efforts to boost growth in the country’s export-driven economy.

The country’s exports have long been dependent on such countries as the U.S. and China, sparking worries that Seoul could find itself at a disadvantage in the rapidly changing trade environment.

Outbound shipments to the U.S. and China accounted for 39.3 percent of the total in 2015, according to government data.

“We should further strengthen efforts to explore new markets in Mexico and Iran to survive in the rapidly changing global trade environment,” Park said at the meeting in central Seoul.

She also said growing interest in South Korean culture could boost the value of local products, citing a hike in the sales of products though official product placement in the popular drama “Descendants of the Sun.”

The direct and indirect economic effects of the smash-hit TV series are estimated to hover above 1 trillion won (US$880 million), according to the state-run Export-Import Bank of Korea.

Experts said the Korean Wave generated by K-pop and dramas could turn fans in foreign countries into consumers of Korean products.