- The Korean legal market is in an exciting state of dynamic flux at the moment, and arbitration is growing rapidly as well. The legal market will be opening soon as a result of the ratification of the Free Trade Agreement with the E.U. (with the US to follow), and this will bring more factors into the mix. The Korean Commercial Arbitration Board (KCAB) is making changes to its rules and administrative procedures to improve its position as a regional arbitration centre. The legal education system has been dramatically overhauled, and one system is phasing in as the other is phasing out. Korea is just an exciting place to be, because you can be a part of so much change. There is a certain element of uncertainty, but it is definitely not boring!
- I always say that if you want to be successful in Korea, you have to be in Korea. You cannot wait for the business first and then decide to open an office here; you need to be here in order to nurture and develop the personal and business relationships that are required in order to have any measure of success in Korea.
- The EU and South Korea are important trading partners. South Korea is the EU's eighth largest trade partner and the EU has become South Korea's second largest export destination. European companies are also consistently the largest investors in South Korea, representing a cumulative total of close to € 30 billion since 1962 (when records became available). This represents over 40% of the total FDI in South Korea in the same period.
- The long-awaited agreement aims to eliminate about 98% of import duties and other trade barriers in manufactured goods, agricultural products and services over the next five years. It is expected to create new trade in goods and services worth €19.1 billion for the EU and save EU exporters €1.6 billion a year. It also covers trade-related activities such as government procurement, intellectual property rights, labour standards and environmental issues.
jan 31 2012 ∞
may 31 2013 +