By Kim Tae-gyu
LONDON ― President Park Geun-hye and British Prime Minister David Cameron held their first summit Tuesday and agreed to raise bilateral trade and investment by 2020.
They discussed ways to come up with win-win cooperation strategies in the potential-rich energy and nuclear power sector where the United Kingdom has a competitive edge.
"Trade volume between Korea and the U.K. amounted to $11.26 billion last year, and the cumulative two-way flow of investment stood at $22.81 billion," Park's senior economic aide Cho Won-dong said.
"The two leaders agree to increase these to $20 billion and $45 billion, respectively, by 2020. To achieve this, they decided to work on plans for financial collaboration and personnel exchanges."
Seoul and London held a global CEO Forum, Tuesday, which Park took part in. They will host a similar event every 18 months to strengthen bilateral ties between entrepreneurs.
On the sidelines of the summit, representatives of both sides signed 11 memorandums of understanding (MOU) for alliances in a wide range of areas, valued at $3 billion.
An MOU between POSTECH and Oxford University created a partnership for exploration of futuristic energy sources including wind and solar power and fuel cells.
The nuclear sector is also something for Korea to focus on as the U.K. plans to build 10 nuclear power plants by 2025 and the bidding procedure is now underway.
Korea is one of the few exporters of nuclear technology after it signed an $18.6-billion deal to construct a plant with four reactors in the United Arab Emirates by 2020, the largest energy deal in the Middle East. Negotiations for other contracts also continue.
"We are not to take part in the bidding right away. But by working together, we may be able do so in a couple of years," Cho said.
Earlier in the day, Park delivered a speech to U.K. lawmakers in English where she stressed the significance of joining hands for co-prosperity.
"Our shared future holds even greater possibilities. But to tap that potential, we must combine our strengths and build on our past achievements. First by marrying our respective fortes, we can create new markets and quality jobs. We can develop new engines that continue to drive our economies forward," she said.
"Korea and Britain can become ideal partners in the quest for new engines of growth. The key lies in combining our respective strengths in science, technology and industry and enriching this further with our unique cultures."
After finishing her state visit to the U.K., Park is scheduled to fly to Brussels to have a summit with Belgian leaders and top officials of the European Union who work at the EU head office there the Belgian capital.
She will return to Seoul Friday.
LONDON ― President Park Geun-hye and British Prime Minister David Cameron held their first summit Tuesday and agreed to raise bilateral trade and investment by 2020.
They discussed ways to come up with win-win cooperation strategies in the potential-rich energy and nuclear power sector where the United Kingdom has a competitive edge.
"Trade volume between Korea and the U.K. amounted to $11.26 billion last year, and the cumulative two-way flow of investment stood at $22.81 billion," Park's senior economic aide Cho Won-dong said.
"The two leaders agree to increase these to $20 billion and $45 billion, respectively, by 2020. To achieve this, they decided to work on plans for financial collaboration and personnel exchanges."
Seoul and London held a global CEO Forum, Tuesday, which Park took part in. They will host a similar event every 18 months to strengthen bilateral ties between entrepreneurs.
On the sidelines of the summit, representatives of both sides signed 11 memorandums of understanding (MOU) for alliances in a wide range of areas, valued at $3 billion.
An MOU between POSTECH and Oxford University created a partnership for exploration of futuristic energy sources including wind and solar power and fuel cells.
The nuclear sector is also something for Korea to focus on as the U.K. plans to build 10 nuclear power plants by 2025 and the bidding procedure is now underway.
Korea is one of the few exporters of nuclear technology after it signed an $18.6-billion deal to construct a plant with four reactors in the United Arab Emirates by 2020, the largest energy deal in the Middle East. Negotiations for other contracts also continue.
"We are not to take part in the bidding right away. But by working together, we may be able do so in a couple of years," Cho said.
Earlier in the day, Park delivered a speech to U.K. lawmakers in English where she stressed the significance of joining hands for co-prosperity.
"Our shared future holds even greater possibilities. But to tap that potential, we must combine our strengths and build on our past achievements. First by marrying our respective fortes, we can create new markets and quality jobs. We can develop new engines that continue to drive our economies forward," she said.
"Korea and Britain can become ideal partners in the quest for new engines of growth. The key lies in combining our respective strengths in science, technology and industry and enriching this further with our unique cultures."
After finishing her state visit to the U.K., Park is scheduled to fly to Brussels to have a summit with Belgian leaders and top officials of the European Union who work at the EU head office there the Belgian capital.
She will return to Seoul Friday.
![[ANALYSIS] S. Korean economy feared to follow in Japan's footsteps](https://img.koreatimes.co.kr/upload/thumbnailV2/3f9cf9747722448a8fd8da85b041817c.jpg/dims/resize/178/optimize)
![[REVIEW] 'The ODD Of LOVE' concert: Taeyeon shows why she is among K-pop's top vocalists](https://img.koreatimes.co.kr/upload/thumbnailV2/e385d0918b054c1286a1cfaa3142439e.jpg/dims/resize/178/optimize)
![[INTERVIEW] 'One Day Off' star Lee Na-young, director on creating subtle, feel-good series](https://img.koreatimes.co.kr/upload/thumbnailV2/796618f56a44402eabe81fe4530ab988.jpg/dims/resize/178/optimize)
