YEREVAN, AUGUST 1, ARMENPRESS. The economic and political ties between the Republic of Armenia and the Republic of Korea (South Korea) are not active and the annual trade volume is low, however a South Korean economist believes that the two countries have big potential for enhancing cooperation in a number of areas.

As part of a media tour organized by the Korean Culture and Information Service, ARMENPRESS’s Editor-in-Chief Shant Khlghatyan interviewed Jo Young-Kwan, Senior Research Fellow at the Overseas Economic Research Institute of the Export-Import Bank of Korea (Korea Eximbank).

The Export-Import Bank of Korea (Korea Eximbank) is researching the economic ties between South Korea and CIS countries.

Jo Young-Kwan underscored that the institute is researching the economic situations mainly in Russia, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Ukraine, because South Korea has active economic relations with these countries.

“We are studying Armenia also, but little work is done in that direction compared to the abovementioned countries because Russia, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan are important economic and trade partners for Korea. You probably know that the economic ties between Armenia and Korea are not active. According to Eximbank research, there are three Korean companies now in Armenia, which have invested a total of 3 million dollars into the Armenian economy,” Young-Kwan said. For comparison, the researcher noted that there are more than 420 Korean companies in Uzbekistan.

“According to last year’s data the trade volume between Armenia and Korea stood at 13 million dollars. This is certainly very low compared to other CIS member countries. As you know, Korea is exporting automobiles, pharmaceuticals, as well as electronic devices, clothing, ores and food,” he said.

According to Jo Young-Kwan, the first reason of the trade volume being so low between Armenia and South Korea is the geographical distance. Furthermore, Eximbank research data shows that 370 Koreans live in Armenia, while there is no Armenian community in Korea, which in turn is an obstacle for cooperation and establishment of relations between the two countries.

Asked how Armenia and Korea could bolster economic ties, Jo Young-Kwan said: “I can see that Armenia is displaying interest for the information and communication technology sector, and Korea is a superpower in this area. We could focus our cooperation on this sector. The Korean Samsung and the Dilijan International School have agreed to create an Innovation Campus, and students will have the chance to attend training courses here. I think that cooperation in IT between the two countries will continue to develop. There are good impressions about Armenia here in our country. Certainly I know about Armenia for a very long time, but after 2016 many videos about your country were shown in Korea and I know people who want to visit Armenia, therefore I believe that there is potential for cooperation in tourism as well.”

Speaking on other topics, Jo Young-Kwan mentioned the legislative changes that were recently introduced in Armenia encouraging electronic payments. He said that this year the Vice Governor of the Central Bank of Armenia visited Korea to discuss the Korean experience in this matter. “This issue is now being studied. We are maintaining active ties in this direction since 2019. We can say that there is prospect for cooperation in digital finance as well. We can say that we have big potential to develop cooperation in information technologies, tourism and financial payments,” Jo Young-Kwan said.

If South Korea were to open an embassy in Armenia it would contribute to long-term development of relations, he added.

Photo by PENTA PRESS