Fiji – Korea Partnership to Promote Investment

The Fiji Embassy in Seoul, Republic of Korea actively participated in the “Republic of Korea-Pacific Islands Countries Business Forum” organised this week by the Korea Importers Association (KOIMA) in Korea.

Fiji’s Ambassador to Korea, Her Excellency Peniana Lalabalavu, was invited to deliver the opening remarks on behalf of the Pacific to the Korean business investors.

KOIMA is a key partner in the “Republic of Korea-Pacific Island Countries Trade and Tourism Promotion Project (TTPP)” and its relationship with the Embassy has deepened over the years owing to the Mission’s close cooperation with KOIMA through some of the latter’s fairs and seminars.

The partnership has been strengthened with the formal launch of the TTPP on 13th March last year in which KOIMA was mandated by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Korea with the special role to promote products from the Pacific region in Korea.

The TTPP is an initiative under the ROK-PICS Cooperation which promotes investment and trade for the Pacific Region to the business communities in Korea.

It has set the platform for KOIMA’s special interest to further strengthen trade and investment between Korea and the Pacific region. Through this special arrangement in place, the Pacific region is assured of a consistent, system marketing and promotion campaign for its products.

The business forum is one of many seminar and conferences hosted by KOIMA to promote investment and trade for the Pacific region.

It followed the recent special seminar, “Korea-Pacific Business Forum” held in Nadi, Fiji at the Sofitel Resort and Spa on 31st October 2019 for the Korean business delegation which had travelled to Fiji to explore investment prospects.

In her congratulatory address to 50 CEOs and business representatives, members of KOIMA, Ambassador Lalabalavu, stated that “Fiji provided a dynamic and conducive business environment and offered many exciting opportunities for business in a wide range of sectors”.

Some of the sectors were also supported by Government incentives.

Ambassador Lalabalavu has told KOIMA that “the Mission looked forward to further engagement with KOIMA in actively promoting and carrying out awareness about Fiji and the Pacific”.

She also spoke on the opportunities that the Pacific region has with its unique natural resources, particularly marine resources.

Many of the Pacific’s products had already successfully penetrated the Korean market and were a testament to the region’s strong capability to produce products that were of a high quality.

“A notable example is Fiji Water which has gained global prominence and can be found in leading hotels and department stores. Other water products such as Aqua Pacific are also retailed in Korea. Cosmetic products made from pristine marine resources and products obtained from natural environments are also being retailed,” she added.

KOIMA’s first project was held in June at the Import Goods Fair (IGF) where 10 countries were invited whereby providing the Pacific region the opportunity to have one to one business meetings on the site.

This was followed by the KOIMA Import delegations’ travel to Fiji for the “Korea-Pacific Business Forum” which was designed to convene a panel discussion to orient the Korean delegation with investment opportunities in the Pacific region.

The CEO and Chairman of KOIMA, Mr Kwang-Hee Hong, informed the audience of KOIMA’s special mandate “for implementation and organization for promotion of international trade between Korea and the PICs region”.

Mr Kwang-Hee said KOIMA had organized and completed a serial number of seminars and forums.

“The total trade volume between the Pacific and Korea reached US$9 billion (FJ$19.34b) in 2014, however, this declined to US$7.5b (FJ$16.12b) in 2017 which required more work by KOIMA,” he stated.

During the forum, the Mission also presented on Fiji’s infrastructure developments undertaken as the Pacific’s hub to promote potential investments from Korea.