French business tycoons visit Korea to meet with KCCI

Hanwha TotalEnergies Petrochemical CEO Laurentius Na, who doubles Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry's Korea chapter chair for business cooperation with France (sixth from left) and Air-Liquide CEO Francois Jackow, who doubles as chair of the France-South Korea Business Council of the Movement of the Enterprises of France (seventh from left), pose with other attendees from the two business groups at the meeting held at the KCCI headquarters in central Seoul on Tuesday. (The KCCI)

Business lobby group Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry held a meeting with delegation of the Movement of the Enterprises of France (MEDEF), the largest employer federation in France, to discuss ways to develop cooperation in the fields of human resources and business between the two countries.

Hanwha TotalEnergies Petrochemical CEO Laurentius Na, who was recently named by the KCCI to lead business cooperation with France held talks with his counterpart Air-Liquide CEO Francois Jackow who doubles as chair of the France-South Korea Business Council of the MEDEF and Vice Chairman Christophe Fontaine, in the meeting held at the KCCI headquarters in central Seoul on Tuesday.

Other attendees from the French side include some eight executives from Fives Group, Total Energies, Thales and Airbus.

The meeting of Na and Jackow in Korea is an extension of KCCI Executive Vice Chairman Woo Tae-hee and Korean business leaders’ trip to France this summer. During the visit, the KCCI and MEDEF International jointly held their first business roundtable in Paris.

Attended by 30 top conglomerates and government officials from the two nations, the business roundtable discussed strategic partnerships in the energy and technology sectors. The top executives from Samsung Electronics, SK Group, LG Electronics, Kia as well as Accor Group, Air Liquide and JCDecaux joined the event.

The KCCI and MEDEF International also signed a memorandum of understanding to expand collaborative efforts in the industrial and economic fields by regularly hosting the Korea-France business roundtables, whenever the business delegation and government officials visit each other’s country.

Serving as a bridge between the two nations, the next business roundtables will zero in on the renewable energy, nuclear energy and net-zero emissions sectors, the KCCI said.

“The Korea-France trading volume has already surpassed $12.9 billion (16.76 trillion won) as of last year, indicating the two countries’ active collaboration in the economic field,” said the KCCI’s Vice President Lee Seung-woo. “The KCCI will continue to serve as a communication channel connecting industry partners.”

By Mun So-jeong(munsojeong@heraldcorp.com)