The leaders of South Korea and Italy were set to discuss ways to seek a strategic partnership in a range of fields including the economy, culture, and science and technology. In particular, the leaders agreed to synergize Korea’s information technology with Italy’s global fashion brands to target the global market together, officials said.

With leaders attending, South Korea and Italy were set to sign a total of 17 memorandums of understanding to expand cooperation on trade, economy, technology and culture.

Park’s government believes that expanding cooperation with Italy could benefit small and medium-sized companies in Korea. SMEs in Italy comprise most of the country’s industrial forces. Most have less than 250 employees but together they produce 65 percent of the country’s exports and account for 80 percent of the country’s jobs. The Korean government is reportedly considering entering new markets in Africa and the Middle East in partnership with Italy by combining Korea’s information technology with Italy’s global fashion brands.

The two nations are among the top 10 exporters in the world. Korea is the eighth-largest trading nation, followed by Italy. But the trade volume between the two countries is relatively low, standing at $6.5 billion as of August this year. Among Korea’s export destinations, Italy ranks 29th.

By Cho Chung-un, Korea Herald correspondent
(christory@heraldcorp.com)