Seoul, 13 August – the EuroCham Secretariat met with the team of the European Chamber of Commerce in Korea (ECCK) in central Seoul. The meeting’s purpose was to create an experience-sharing exercise between the executive teams of the two organisations and an informal discussion on Chamber operations in the context of Vietnam and South Korea.
The ECCK delegation was led by Vice President Mr. Bo Sun Kim and included the Director for Legal and International Affairs Mr. Sven-Erik Batenburg, as well as 7 other staff members. On EuroCham’s side, 12 Secretariat members were present including Executive Director Ms. Almut Roessner.
Secretariat members of the two organisations exchanged extensively on a variety of topics, including events, advocacy, membership, and communication
The discussion covered many topics relevant to the Chambers’ operations, including how each organisation conducted its Events, Membership Management, and Communications, as well as how some recent successes in terms of member numbers and media coverage were achieved. The focus of the session was however on advocacy and Government relations, areas which are at the core of both ECCK and EuroCham’s activities. There was a marked interest in knowing more about how EuroCham Vietnam executes the creation and release of its yearly Whitebook, and conversely how ECCK conducts the process of its equivalent in Korea: the White Paper.
Government and External Affairs Manager Ms. Nguyen Lan Nhi explaining EuroCham's approach
Another topic of interest was the work of the ECCK regarding promotion of the ongoing EU-Korea Free Trade Agreement, which has been in force for 7 years. This was of special interest to the EuroCham Secretariat as the Chamber focuses heavily on promoting the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA), scheduled to become effective later this year.
The afternoon meeting was a lively exchange between staff members and an opportunity for both organisations to learn from each other and draw ideas from their distinct ways of working in Vietnam and Korea. The session also covered stakeholder management and relations with EU institutions, while touching upon topics related to EU project management.
ECCK is an association of European companies operating in or related to Korea. It was founded in 2012 with a vision and mission similar to that of EuroCham Vietnam, dedicated to working towards the improvement of the business environment. ECCK is supervised by an elected Board of Directors and counts on the support of 15 permanent staff members with offices in Seoul and Busan. In its 6th year of existence, the organisation has close to 400 members and will be releasing the 4th edition of its White Paper publication at the end of this year. ECCK is a fellow member of the European Business Organisation Wordwide (EBO-WW).
The ECCK-EuroCham meeting was part of the agenda of a Secretariat offsite activity.
