Korean trade agency opens new office in Georgia

Officials pose for a photo at the opening ceremony of KOTRA’s new Tbilisi trade office on Friday in the Georgian capital. From left: Kim Hyung-shin, head of Korea Water Resources Corporation's Georgia office; Kim Hyon-du, South Korean ambassador to Georgia, Kang Kyung-sung, KOTRA president, Tamar Ioseliani, Georgian deputy minister of economy and sustainable development, Aleksandre Khvtisiashvili, Georgian deputy foreign minister, and Magda Bolotashvili, vice chair of the Georgian Chamber of Commerce and Industry. (KOTRA)

South Korea’s state-run trade promotion agency said Sunday it has opened new office in Georgia to help Korean companies tap opportunities in the emerging Caucasus region.

The office in Tbilisi, the Georgian capital, is the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency’s 130th overseas trade outpost and its first in the country. KOTRA expects the office will serve as a strategic foothold for companies to expand into the wider Caucasus region — comprising Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan — a logistics and trade gateway linking Europe and Asia.

The launch ceremony was held Friday, attended by some 150 officials and business leaders from both countries, including KOTRA President Kang Kyung-sung, Georgian Deputy Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development Tamar Ioseliani, Georgian Deputy Foreign Minister Aleksandre Khvtisiashvili, Georgian Chamber of Commerce and Industry Vice Chair Magda Bolotashvili and South Korean Ambassador to Georgia Kim Hyon-du.

KOTRA said the Tbilisi office will play a key role in exploring Global South markets and advancing Korea’s export diversification strategy.

“Georgia is a country with strong geopolitical importance as a crossroads where Europe and Asia meet, but it has been relatively lesser known for Korean companies — a ‘hidden pearl of the Black Sea,’” said Kang. “The Tbilisi office will serve as a forward base to help Korean companies enter the Georgian market and uncover new opportunities between the two countries.”

South Korea and Georgia sealed an Economic Partnership Agreement last year under which more than 90 percent of tariffs will be eliminated within 10 years, including those on automobiles — Korea’s top export item to Georgia — as well as consumer goods such as food and beauty products.

Alongside the opening ceremony, KOTRA signed a memorandum of understanding with the Georgian Chamber of Commerce and Industry to strengthen information sharing and partnership with local companies.