The Nuclear Security Summit which opens Monday is providing prime business opportunities to Korean conglomerates as foreign leaders are scheduled to attend various investment forums and visit companies this week.
About 100 Korean business chiefs are meeting with Chilean President Sebastian Pinera in downtown Seoul on Monday for a luncheon event to seek the expansion of economic ties between the two nations.
The event, organized by the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry, will be attended by KCCI chairman Sohn Kyung-shik, LS Group chairman John Koo and Eagon Industrial chairman Park Young-joo as well as the chief executives of Hanjin Shipping and STX among others.
Karel Schwarzenberg, deputy prime minister and minister of foreign affairs of the Czech Republic, was to hold a luncheon with top executives from Samsung Group, Hyundai Motor Group, LG Group, GS Caltex, Doosan Heavy Industries and Construction, Hajin Group and Hanwha Group on the same day, according to the Embassy of Czech Republic in Seoul.
“The main discussion topic at the meeting is the expansion of economic and trade cooperation ties between the two countries and to create new projects in the third market,” said an official at the embassy.
Another meeting between Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra with Korean business leaders is arranged the same day to discuss investment, while Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan is attending an investment forum later in the day.
The Nigerian investment forum was set to include heads of 100 groups such as Hyundai Engineering and Construction, Tong Yang Moolsan, Korea National Oil Corp. and Daewoo International.
British Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg was to make his first stop at the Tesco Homeplus virtual store in Seoul on Monday and visit the offices of Samsung Heavy Industries, Samsung C&T and Samsung Electronics in southern Seoul.
At Samsung Electronics, he is scheduled to be given a tour of the flagship electronics arm’s showroom by its vice chairman Kang Ho-moon, according to embassy officials.
On a related front, Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono will take part in a business forum and a luncheon with business community leaders on Wednesday at a hotel in southern Seoul. Participants include about 150 people such as the chief executives from Daelim, LG International, Honam Petrochemical Corp., Hanwha and Cesco.
The Korea International Trade Association will invite Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung to meet the heads of Korean economic organizations for a luncheon in downtown Seoul on Thursday.
Meanwhile, Hyundai Motor and its affiliate Kia Motors provided 262 cars ― including Equus and Mohaves ― and BMW offered 109 units of its 7 Series and Gran Turismo for the summit.
By Cho Ji-hyun (
sharon@heraldcorp.com)
