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| British Chamber of Commerce in Korea Executive Director Lucinda Walker |
The British Chamber of Commerce in Korea (BCCK) would like to congratulate President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol on his victory. We are looking forward to working closely with him and his administration and strengthening the bilateral trading relationship between the U.K. and South Korea.
The BCCK sees that the Korean market is a key market for many British companies. British companies operating in Korea appreciate this country's commitment to the rule of law and to economic cooperation.
The bilateral trading relationship between the U.K. and South Korea is now worth more than 20 trillion won a year, with an 11 percent increase in 2021. When it comes to foreign direct investment in Korea, the U.K. also ranks highly out of Korea's partner countries.
The year 2022 will be the year that negotiations start between the U.K. and Korea for a new ambitious free trade agreement (FTA). Today, when discussing areas that the BCCK would like the new administration to focus on, I would like to mention digital trade and clean energy, but we look forward to working with the new administration on all areas under the FTA.
The opportunities for trading digitally span every sector of the economy ― from financial and professional businesses services, to healthcare, education and beyond. It is digitally delivered service exports that have driven the majority of the increase in U.K. service exports over the last decade. The BCCK and its members hope that the new FTA will allow digital trade between Korea and the U.K. to continue to flourish. We hope that regulation and policy developed by this new administration will continue to support: the end-to-end digitization of trade for British and Korean trading partners; the flow of data, facilitating business development while ensuring data remains protected; and the further development of trusted and secure digital environments for companies and consumers.
From offshore wind to hydrogen, 2021 saw many examples of the growing collaboration between Korea and the U.K. There are 19 British companies operating in the offshore wind sector. It is foreign investment in offshore wind that enabled the U.K. to become a world-leader in this area and we hope to see continued investment in both directions between Korea and the U.K. in this area. Ceres Power's collaboration with Doosan and SeAH's investment in the North East of England are just two noteworthy examples. We hope to see more in the FTA and in policies that this new administration develop to support clean energy as this will benefit both the U.K. and Korean economies and the environment.
The BCCK believes that diversity is what makes business strong and resilient. For the BCCK, and for my fellow international chambers of commerce, gender diversity is also important. As a working woman in Korea, and the mother of a Korean citizen, my career has benefited from the government's childcare policies for working parents. The BCCK hopes that the new government continues in the country's efforts to prioritize the success of all genders in the workplace and, indeed, all forms of diversity in business.
