SEOUL, 8 September 2015 – Philippine Ambassador to Korea Raul S. Hernandez met with representatives of 12 leading companies doing business between the Philippines and South Korea at the Philippine Embassy Chancery in Seoul to discuss the organization of a Philippine Korea business grouping.

The companies, led by Kim Kyung-ja, President of Donggwang Clark, and Mr. Choi Soong-hong, Chief Executive Counselor of LSIS Co. Ltd., represent Korean and Filipino business interests engaged in agribusiness and trading, banking and finance, tourism, real estate and infrastructure, power and logistics. Ambassador Hernandez expressed appreciation for the investments of Korean companies in the Philippines and for their invaluable contribution towards sustaining the high-level economic growth of the country. He also welcomed the presence of Filipino banking and airline companies for expanding their clientele in Korea. To be able to take advantage of the growth opportunities being offered by the Philippine, Ambassador Hernandez emphasized that enhanced networking would be beneficial for companies in Korea with a presence in the country and invited them to participate in the establishment of a Philippine-Korea business chamber or grouping. The meeting concluded with the agreement to organize a year-end business networking event that could serve as a precursor for an informal business forum or a more formal chamber of commerce that would provide a platform for an active exchange of ideas, enhanced networking and espousing of business concerns. There was consensus as well on the need to convene industry sector meetings focusing on specific clusters such as services (tourism, IT, finance), energy and infrastructure, food and agribusiness to address the particular concerns of companies in this business in the Philippines and South Korea. The proposed business grouping aims to be the Seoul-based equivalent of the Korean Chamber of Commerce Philippines (KCCP), which was established in February 1994 in order to cultivate closer relations between the peoples of South Korea and Philippines by expanding trade and commerce between both countries and promote Korean investments in the country. Among the 300 members of KCCP, the major Korean companies include Hanjin, Samsung, LG, Korean Exchange Bank, and Korea Electric Power Corp. These South Korean conglomerates count as the top investors in the Philippines. – END–