Hello everyone, my name is Ben Kuliznik, I'm a senior manager with British Columbia's Trade Policy and Negotiations Branch of the Ministry of Jobs, Economic Recovery and Innovation. Hello, I'm Ben Kuliznik, working in the British Columbia government. Good evening to everyone in BC and good morning to those joining us from South Korea. Before I go any further, I want to acknowledge that I am conducting this webinar from the traditional territories of the Laquangan-speaking peoples, the Esquimalt and Songhees First Nations. Welcome and thank you for joining us today. There are two parts of our virtual event. In the first, we are going to see two short videos to launch the latest action plan between Jungi Province and British Columbia, which you may not be aware are actually sister provinces. The second part of today's event is a webinar on doing business in South Korea. Our main objectives are to provide you with market intel on South Korea to raise awareness about how the Canada-Korea Free Trade Agreement, also known as the CKFDA, can reduce your costs and make your goods and services more competitive. Give an overview of BC-Korea trade relations, what BC's trade and investment reps in Korea and the export navigator program can do for you. Today's session is being recorded and will be shared with registrants in a follow-up email along with the presentations that you see today and speaker contact information. If you experience any problems with your audio or any other technical issues, please use the Q&A function at the bottom of your screen and let Christine Chen or me know about your issue. You may also use the Q&A function to pose questions for speakers at any time throughout the event and there will be time at the end for additional questions. Please be as specific as you can and indicate where possible who you are directing your question to. Now, I would like to introduce our first video. As you saw in our program, the Honourable Ravi Kelon, BC's Minister of Jobs Economic Recovery Innovation was originally scheduled to provide these remarks, but he was unfortunately committed to another event today. However, we are very thankful that the Honourable George Chow, BC's Minister of State for Trade, was able to step in and provide these remarks to kick off the Gyeonggi Province BC Action Plan for Cooperation and today's webinar on doing business in Korea. So enjoy the video. Good day everyone. My name is George Chow. I'm the Minister of State for Trade for the Government of British Columbia. I'm pleased to speak to you from Vancouver on the traditional territory of the Coast Salish peoples with whom we share this land and their hospitality. Thank you for inviting me to say a few words. Before I begin, I would like to sincerely thank the Assistant Governor for his kind words and support. As British Columbians deal with the ongoing impact of the recent extreme weather events and for his well wishes to our PME John Horgan, who is thankfully back at work with us at the Legislature after undergoing cancer treatment. Since the signing of our sister city relationship in 2008, 14 years ago, British Columbia and Gyeonggi Province have maintained strong ties through trade, investment and collaboration. The Government of British Columbia is excited to strengthen this partnership going forward and increase trade to support mutual economic growth and promote culture, arts, education and sports. Like the successful winter sport exchange that was carried out in late 2019 at Silver Star Resort in Vernon in which elite Korean cross-country skiers trained with cross-country ski Canada and athletes from BC for one week. Exchanges like this show that we can learn so much from one another in many areas of life and that by working together we can reach new heights. As we look to continue our strong economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, the Canada-Korea Free Trade Agreement provides a great framework for continued economic growth with South Korea. With our clean BC program, we are supporting people and businesses to transition to a carbon neutral economy and welcoming to our province some of the top clean technology companies in the world. We look forward to continue our collaboration at Gyeonggi Province, which is home to some of the world's most recognizable brands like Samsung, Hyundai and Cure. British Columbia looks forward to welcoming representatives from the Gyeonggi government when it's safe to do so. I would again like to thank Assistant Governor of Gyeonggi Province, Mr. Yu Kuan Yew and all of the guests and members who are joining us today on the webinar. Thank you for taking your time. Okay, that's our first video from Minister Chao. I know he regrets that he cannot be here in person, but we thank him for taking the time to create that welcome video. It's nice to know that BC and Gyeonggi Province can continue to build on the relationship as Sister Provinces and work together towards mutually beneficial outcomes. Next, we have another video for you, this time with welcoming remarks and a virtual signing of the Gyeonggi Province BC Agreement by Mr. Yu Kuan Yew, Assistant Governor of Gyeonggi Province. Mr. Yu previously served as Director General of the Labor Office. He promotes the development of Gyeonggi's small and medium-sized enterprises and formulates innovative SME policies in line with rapidly evolving global issues such as carbon neutrality and digital transformation. Enjoy this next video. Hello, I'm Yu Kuan Yew, Assistant Governor of Gyeonggi Province. First, I would like to thank the members of the Labor Office and Gyeonggi Province who are working hard for the recovery of Gyeonggi Province. I would also like to thank the members of the Labor Office and Gyeonggi Province who are working hard for the recovery of Gyeonggi Province. I hope you will find a peaceful day soon. In 2008, Gyeonggi Province and British Columbia worked on the recovery of Gyeonggi Province and continued to work on the recovery of Gyeonggi Province, including the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Economic Affairs, and Digital Content, the Ministry of Sports, and so on. I would like to thank the members of the Labor Office and Gyeonggi Province for their continuous recovery and cooperation. I think it is very meaningful that Gyeonggi Province and Gyeonggi Province are the areas that promote the economic, cultural, and tourist areas of Korea, such as Samsung, LG, Hyundai, Kia, world-class semiconductors, mobile phones, car companies, and the U.S. central companies. On the other hand, the UNESCO World Cultural Heritage, DMG, and other special tourist resources are very rich. We know that British Columbia is an island area in various fields such as eco-friendly technology, information technology, agricultural technology, and so on. Based on the strengths of both areas, we hope that the economic, cultural, and sports, and cultural, and sports safety, education, and labor, will be more active and active in various fields. Gyeonggi Province is very important to the relationship between British Columbia and Gyeonggi Province. British Columbia is the only place in the world where there is freedom and peace in Korea. Gyeonggi Province is the only place in the world where there is freedom and peace in Canada. Both areas are not only historical, economic, but also cultural, arts, education, and so on. Finally, we hope that the partnership between both areas will become stronger through the fourth implementation plan, and that the COVID-19 pandemic will end soon and that we will be able to meet in person and discuss cooperation. Once again, we hope that Gyeonggi Province will be a big part of the fourth implementation plan and that the partnership between both areas will be stronger. Thank you. Outstanding. Thank you very much to our friends and partners in the Gyeonggi-do office for that fantastic video. Okay, so that concludes the first part of the presentation. Thank you. The next thing I want to do is introduce our next speaker. Mr. Gum Chol-Wong is the director of the Foreign Affairs and Trade Division of Gyeonggi Province. He previously served as the director of the Investment Promotion Division. Over the past four years, he has organized many market pioneering projects, including Gyeonggi's participation in the Consumer Electronics Show 2020. Which saw over 15 million US dollars in consultations for companies of the province. Thank you, Director Gum, for joining us today. Over to you. Thank you. Good afternoon, everyone. Actually, it is in the morning in Korea. But first of all, I'm sorry for your nature, just as such. Flood and land sliding. But I would like to express your honor.  My name is Terangum. I'm charge of, Foreign Affairs and the Trade Division in Gyeonggi Province government. I would like to congratulate you. Both the regions for holding this signing ceremony for the fourth Gyeonggi BC Action Plan, and for hosting the webinar on doing business in South Korea. Under the Canada Korea Free Trade Agreement. Building on the first three action plan implemented by our two regions. We are continuing to our collaborative efforts and expanding cooperation in diverse sectors such as sustainable building technologies, renewable energy, digital media content, agri-food and more. Although tomorrow, the solidarity and the strong bonds enjoyed by our two regions are being further strengthened and reinforced through reciprocal visits and personal exchanges. This webinar is on doing business in South Korea. It's very timely. And meaningful. As that it actually helps. 70 years have passed since the Canada Korea Free Trade Agreement came into force. With active trade and reciprocal investment, our inter-regional cooperation and economic ties will be further strengthened. Gyeonggi province as a massive marketplace is a home to globally renowned high-tech companies as well as 25% of Korean population. Welcome to the entry of diverse Canadian companies through the Canada Korea Free Trade Agreement. Finally, this evening, a famous Korean saying that goes even a rivers and mountains change after 10 years. However, for the 14 years, we have enjoyed the continuing cooperation and the enduring friendship of British Columbia and the Gyeonggi province. For this, we are truly grateful. With today's webinar, we anticipate even greater inter-regional exchanges and the cooperation in the future. For the next webinar, we look forward to hosting an event that supports the entry by many companies of Gyeonggi province into the markets of British Columbia and cooperation with basic companies. I also hope that the next webinar will be about Gyeonggi province with basic companies. I also hope we would like to hold a fixed-base meeting soon after the COVID-19 pandemic. Thank you. Thank you very much, Director Goom. You've given our attendees a lot to consider already and we appreciate you taking the time to join us today. Our next speaker is Derek Kim. Derek is a British Columbia-raised Korean Canadian and is Senior Commercial Officer for Trade and Invest British Columbia in South Korea, co-located in the Canadian Embassy in Seoul. Having served the interests of British Columbians for more than five years, Derek is currently responsible for all sector foreign direct investment and trade promotion in clean tech, energy, ocean marine and other reactive sectors such as forestry, mining and mining tech. All of that between South Korea and the province is a lot to handle. Derek is going to talk about market intel, sector trends and business practices in South Korea. Welcome, Derek. Thank you, Ben. I'm going to share my slides. Okay, great. Hello, everyone. My name is Derek Kim. I'm the Senior Commercial Officer at Trade and Investment BC in South Korea, co-located in the Canadian Embassy in Seoul. I'm very much honored to speak at today's session doing business in South Korea covering market intelligence, sector trends and business practices. Today's agenda comprised of three parts, introduction of Korea, market trends and opportunities, and some of the business practices. I'm really hoping that these would be helpful for you when you decide to engage in any business relationship with South Korea. First, introduction of South Korea. In this slide, you may recognize many of the words that Korea is known for. Particularly, you recognize what we call K-wave Ohio, the cultural economy of music, movies, sports, food and some of the global brands. All this is to say, South Korea is known as one of the most innovative countries in the world, labeled as the world's most innovative country on the Bloomberg Innovation Index 2021. They say Korea has no resources, but human resources. Truly, after Japanese invasion from 1910 to 1945, Korean War broke from 1950 to 53, dividing nation into two. From the ashes of war, Korea was one of poorest country on Earth, GDP per capita below $100, lower than Haiti, Ethiopia or Yemen. After 70 years, South Korea is now recognized as world's fastest growing developed country, placing itself at the 10th GDP ranks in the OECD and G20, all thanks to its hard-working and diligent people. To go over some of the general information of Korea, Korea's capital is Seoul, where more than 50% of total population, 25 million people live. It is 100th of Canada's total area, but known for world-class technology, cultural richness, and 5,000 years of history. Korea's democratic republic state with presidential government elected every five years, and where the world leader in internet connectivity, 92% of the country's total population are connected, fastest speedability and 5G. Korea's political environment can be described as rather young, but modern democracy. Korea is known for table who owns global conglomerates such as Samsung, LG, SK, Hyundai, who usually form a close link with political leaders, particularly the running government. As mentioned prior, Korea has power for presidency, elected only once and lasts for five years. Interesting enough, we'll expect to have our presidential election on March 9th, only less than a month away. As the world's 10th largest economy, 14 Korean companies are recognized in 14 global 500, 2020, including Samsung, Hyundai, SK, Posco, LG, CZ, and GS groups, with a clear positioning globally as positive economic environment. Okay, so to sum up eight quick facts of Korea that would be helpful for you to remember. First, total population is 52 million, which 50% live in Seoul. So you can just imagine how high the population density must be. Second, we have a highly developed tech infrastructure. Korea is home to the fastest internet on the planet, as I mentioned. GDP at average growth of 2.7%, Korea's 10th largest global economy. Fourth, Korea is a great place for consumer testing. Koreans are early adopters of new technologies and always eager to be the first to buy and use newly released technologies. Seventy percent of 24 to 35 years old have completed some sort of tertiary education, which is the highest percentage worldwide, compared to OECD average of 44%. Six, English is mandatory language, second language in Korean education system. So therefore, most Koreans have reasonable levels of English. Seventh, Korea currently has FTAs with 58 countries and under negotiation with 24 countries, which aims to be the most globally connected trade investment partner. Eighth, Korea is home to global brand that you recognize such as Samsung, LG, Hyundai and POSCO. Okay, so now moving on to the market trends opportunities. In comparison to that of British Columbia, you can remember 10 folds. So total area of land that is one tenth of BC by 10 times of population. South Korea is BC's fourth largest export market. In 2020, BC export to South Korea has reached $2.1 billion, a conic for 5.4% share of BC origin export destination after U.S., China and Japan. Canada is important trading partner for South Korea and 50% of its total exports are from British Columbia. In 2020, Korean government announced carbon neutral plan 2050 to achieve bold targets of carbon neutrality, including scrapping coal-fired power plants. Similarly, Metro Vancouver is home to many clean-take companies and hop for hydrogen and fuel cell industry, which is testimonial to our clean BC mandate to reach net zero target by 2050 as well. Both BC and Korea acknowledge high potential for digital transformation and the digital economy. Marking the year 2022 as eighth year of Canada of Korea free trade agreement, bilateral trade between the two countries have become ever so strong. More information will be explained by Ben in his presentation later. In April, South Korea is planning to join the CPTPP Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership, which accounts for 15% of the world's trade, where Canada is already a member of. To explain Korea's key industries. First, manufacturing, semiconductors, automobiles, chemicals, silimaking, ships and vessels. Second, technology, electronics, mobile phones, digital displays, cosmetics and biotech. Third, creative contents, K-music, K-dramas, K-movies, gaming and webtoons. Some of the brand names resulted from these are mentioned in the previous slides, such as BTS, Samsung and Sport Game, as you probably know. Since the COVID-19 hit, South Korea has quick to adopt some of the global economic trends. The current Moon government has introduced $170 billion new deal of which $77 billion are to be invested in green economy, such as renewable energy of ammonia and hydrogen, including technology of EV batteries and fuel cells. Of course, all these directions may well change after 2022 presidential election, where all conglomerates are tiered to. The rise of Korean millennials in Generation Z shaping more than 75% global workforce by 2025 have led the drastic transformation from the traditional outlets to e-commerce and digital platforms, prevent to be the key game changers. Also, a noteworthy point that they are also relying on influencers and content making heavily in terms of their purchase decisions. Further, these generations have led more socially conscious lifestyle which businesses have quickly learned to apply. This has led to ESG, environment social governance focused business practices and value investments. Naturally, large conglomerates follow suit, shifting away from the risky and rather bold commodity investments to form their own corporate venture capital, which they are now actively seeking to enter the world of startups, acquiring, partnering with them for technology advancement and venture off new streams of businesses which is positively backed by financial institutions and government alike. In recognizing the aforementioned trends, our trade investment British Columbia office have nine priority sectors to comprehensively cover what the value added part, whether it's good, agree with seafood, how the technology, life sciences, digital entertainment, intricate media, clean technology, and why the future, ARVR metaverse, agri tech, and ICT. We also have reactive sectors from forestry mining to ocean marine, aerospace, international education, tourism, and culture. Now moving on to our last portion of the presentation, we will be talking about business practices. Korea has thousands years of history heavily influenced by Confucius ideology. So this means that you have to always respect the elders who can be by their age or simply by their business ranks or power with utmost politeness. So I have prepared some do's and don'ts for you to remember. First, do not fold, pocket, or write use the remember app, which is pretty much the business norm in Korea. And also remember that Koreans use Kakao and Line and never, never WeChat and others. Do keep business cards face up on the table, put them delicately into business card holder if possible. Do slightly bow as a form of salutation and handshakes are avoided during COVID-19 as you can imagine. Do accept things using your two hands. Do not refuse tea or beverages snacks being offered. And lastly, do email the senior decision makers only at the final state of the project and subsisting them her along the way. Normally, the final approval is important to the address to the senior person after it has been progressed. Do not give gifts more than Canadian dollars as it is against Kim Young Nan Act, which is anti-graft law. Please remember 30, 50, 100, really possible. So food, drinks, and snacks are permitted up to 30,000 Korean won. Gifts up to a value of 50,000 Korean won are accepted. Congratulatory condolences, money, flowers, and rest are up to 100,000 Korean won. And if you can, please learn Korean basic words in a formal setting. First, 안녕하세요. Hello. 감사합니다. Thank you. 안녕히 계세요. Goodbye. And more words, and more words can we can try to introduce you later. So as an ending remark, I'd like to share a quote from President Moon of South Korea. He said, What South Korea has built from the ashes of Korean war, economic culture flourishment, and a true democracy is all indebted to the miracle on the Han River. So should you decide to pursue businesses in South Korea, may our trade investment is representative tips and 경기도 would help you to experience that very miracle. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you very much, Eric. Okay. Those were some great insights. And hopefully our attendees can leverage BC's in market presence. I just want to remind everyone that they can use the Q and a function at the bottom of the screen to pose questions for, for a panelist. And if you have any questions, please limit the chat to just any technical questions you may have. The next presentation is actually from me. So I will just wait for that to, to come up here. Excellent. Thank you very much, Christine. So as I mentioned at the beginning, I'm, I work with trade policy and negotiations branch and this branch represents BC's interests in the market. And this branch represents BC's interests in both international and domestic free trade agreement negotiations, as well as trade disputes affecting British Columbia. We do free trade agreement outreach, just like this webinar to ensure that information on how to take advantage of FTAs is widely known. We know that most SMEs don't have the time to navigate FTAs. So hopefully this overview can at least help you understand where to start if you're wondering what the CKFTA can do for you. Next slide, please. So it's been mentioned, I think a couple of times already, but the CKFTA actually entered into force on January 1st, 2015. So it's now entering into its eighth year. And the, Derek also mentioned this, Canada created trade has really expanded quite significantly during this time. And this is surely in part because of the benefits that can be found under the CKFTA. This was Canada's first FTA in the Asia Pacific. Before that, BC and Canadian companies were really at a disadvantage. And that is because the EU and the US already had deals with South Korea. So this deal was very important for putting you on a level playing field with many of your international competitors. The agreement itself contains 23 chapters and hundreds and thousands of pages. Multiple annexes covering both traditional and modern areas of trade. So it covers things like goods and services and investment, which are some things that you will find in many of Canada's, all of Canada's FTAs, but it also contains more modern aspects of the economic partnership. Things like e-commerce, for example. Next slide, please. Okay, let's dive right into some of the provisions of this agreement. The first area that I'll cover is goods. Now, goods market access. What we're really talking about here, first of all, is tariff cuts and elimination. These, of course, can reduce your costs and make your products more competitive. Since January 1st, 2021, 98.5% of Canada's exports are eligible for duty-free access into Korea. And we should have some updated figures for 2022 very soon to provide as well, but know that that number continues to go up the further that the agreement gets implemented. Upon full implementation of the agreement, tariffs, Korean tariffs on Canadian goods, 99.75% of those exports to Korea will be duty-free. So another thing to take note of when it comes to duties and tariff eliminations is that these take place on January 1st of each year. Under the agreement, in some cases, duties were removed immediately. In other cases, there were phase-out periods. And so under those periods, under those phase-outs each year, you may see a reduced duty until they're eliminated altogether. Next slide, please. I know that this is a very busy-looking slide, and I certainly don't expect anyone to read and digest everything that is here. But the main message that I want to communicate here is, if somebody told you before the agreement was being implemented that tariffs of 100% on things like animal feed would be eliminated by 2024 under the agreement and that your animal feed would be that much cheaper than competitors who don't have that kind of preferential access, well, that's a very compelling reason to explore the market. Now, we have to remember that tariff reductions can also reduce the cost of your imports as well. So under this agreement, you may be find that you can bring in technology, for example, from South Korea at a lower price and saving you money in the end. I know we have producers from a wide range of industries and sectors with us today. These are just a few examples of tariff reductions under the CKFTA. What this shows you really are that the tariffs were quite significant before the agreement came into place in many cases. But it also shows you that many have already been eliminated. And as I said, over the next few years, many more will be removed altogether. I think one thing I would add here is that there is one area where there are some remaining tariffs and that is definitely in the agri-food and seafood space. However, those are reduced and continue to go lower. So we can talk about some specific examples if that's of interest to you. The other point that I would make here is that these rates, they may look great, but they really look much better when you consider them in contrast with the other rates that are available to those countries or producers in those other countries that don't have a free trade agreement with Korea. So Korea, just like all countries, has what is called a most favored nation rate and that is available to all of those producers from countries where those FDAs are not available. When you compare them with these rates, it really shows you where your competitive edge is. Next slide, please. Here are just a few more examples based on different sectors. Again, I'll just give you a second to take a look at that. Now, tariff reductions are important, but they really don't mean a lot if you are facing other challenges in getting your goods to the market. I think the one great thing about the agreement is that it also seeks to address things called non-tariff barriers. Differing standards, duplicative testing, unreasonably onerous labeling or certification requirements are just a few examples. And there are always legitimate reasons for governments, health or safety reasons for governments to implement these kinds of requirements and regulations. But when those start to hinder trade and there is no justifiable reason for them, that's when you may be facing a non-tariff barrier. The CKFTA encourages the use of internationally accepted standards. It requires early notification and publication of technical regulations and it creates committees to address these types of barriers. There is, of course, also a dispute settlement process under the agreement that can ensure that tariff reductions are not undermined by any unjustified non-tariff barriers. And if you are facing these types of barriers, whether that's in Korea or elsewhere, we really want to know about it. We can raise these with our federal colleagues and we can advocate to have them addressed. Next slide, please. Okay, this is a screenshot of something called the Canada Tariff Finder. It is a website, it is a very easy tool to use and I strongly encourage you to take a look at it if you haven't done so already. What this tool does is it lets you know what sorts of tariffs your products will face in markets where Canada has a free trade agreement. So that includes South Korea, of course. If you're looking at a market that Canada does not yet have an FTA with, then you can use the World Trade Organization tariff tool to look into that. But in terms of this tool, it's very user-friendly. All you need to know is, as you can see on the screen, whether you're exporting or importing, and then you just need to choose the right country. Of course, I've got Poland there. I should have put Korea for this presentation. My apologies. And the product that you're interested in exporting or importing. Now, when it comes to that product, you can use either your HS code, if you know it, your harmonized systems code, or a keyword. And once you click find, it may ask you a couple more questions just to make sure it fully understands which product you are talking about and then you're off and running. Once you do that, what it will show you is, if we're talking about Korea, it will show you your product. It will show you the rate that your product faces in 2022, if you're searching right now. It will also show you the phase out for that product, if applicable, if there are any more tariff reductions that will happen in the future. And finally, it will show you the rate, that MFN rate that I mentioned earlier. So you can compare what sort of preferential rate that you are getting under the CKFTA versus your competitors that don't have that preferential access. Next slide, please. Okay, the last thing I'm going to mention on goods, when it comes to the CKFTA, is just a bit of a guide, things that you want to keep in mind when you, if you may be seeking to export under the agreement. The first is, of course, checking the tariff preference, which I've already covered. The next thing that you need to know is whether or not your good meets the rules of origin. To be able to take advantage of any of those preferential tariffs, you need to be able to show that it meets the applicable rules of origin. If your good is wholly obtained in Canada or Korea, then you're probably not going to have any problems. But if that product contains inputs from outside of Korea or Canada, we may have to look at whether it meets those rules. And sometimes it's true, they can be complex. There are product-specific rules of origin. But the good thing is that we're here to provide some guidance on this, and I'll also talk about another tool in a second here. Now, if let's say that you've got a preferential tariff rate in hand and that you think that your product meets those rules of origin, you will not automatically receive preferential access just because you qualify. In the case of the CKFTA producers or exporters must claim that preference. And in order to do that, you need a certificate of origin. Under the CKFTA, that certificate of origin must be completed by an exporter or a producer. It doesn't need to follow a prescribed format. It must be in writing, which can include electronically. It must contain a minimum set of data requirements. And it can apply to a single shipment of goods or multiple shipments of identical goods over a certain period of time. Now, that may sound overwhelming, I know, but there is some good news. To be sure how another country's customs administration will treat your goods upon arrival, you can apply for what is called an advanced ruling. These are probably one of the most effective trade facilitation tools in Canada's FTAs. They can help expedite customs clearance. They can provide you with certainty about how a customs administration will treat your product at the border before you even ship it. So if you use this tool, you can avoid situations where you ship your product, thinking that you're going to get a certain rate and then have a different rate applied at the border. These are part, they are built into the CKFTA and most of Canada's other FTAs. They are binding on the customs authority and they will let you know if your good has been classified right and whether it meets those rules of origin. Again, this is something we can help you with. Next slide, please. Okay, that's it for goods. I'm just going to talk quickly about services here. The first thing I want to mention is that the CKFTA uses what is called a negative list approach. And this means that all services are covered by the agreement unless parties take exceptions or reservations. So check the agreement or better yet have someone like me do it and make sure that your service is covered by the agreement. Now, like all of Canada's FTAs, there are some core obligations with respect to services. The first is that your service should get no worse treatment than South Korea provides services from its other FTA or WTO partners. This is known as most favorite nation treatment and of course applies for Korean service providers who may be looking to operate in BC or Canadian market. It should get the same treatment as other domestic service providers. This is known as national treatment. Parties should not be imposing restrictions on other on the quantity or types of service, the types of entities that can be supplying those services. And services, one very important element of course of the agreement is just like with goods service providers can benefit from improved access commitments. And when it comes to Korea, this may include things like professional services, foreign legal consultancy, commercial education and training, research and development, environment and business services. And finally, countries parties cannot impose local presence or residency requirements as a condition of the cross-border supply of the service. So those are some of the core provisions. There are a couple of other things that may benefit you as a service provider as well. Things like temporary entry provisions. This makes it easier for you to enter the market temporarily as a business visitor or an investor or a highly skilled professional. Now, it's important to note that this doesn't replace the visa process, but and of course, there are also some exceptions and reservations as I've noted on the screen here to be aware of. Not all highly skilled professionals are covered, for example, but again, this is something we can walk you through. And the last thing I'll mention here is just government procurement. So businesses under this agreement can compete equally with domestic suppliers in Korea and Canada as well. It's reciprocal, of course, for government procurement contracts covering covered goods and services above set-dollar thresholds. So in the case of the CKFTA, this covered central government agencies procurement and those thresholds are 100 million won in Korea and $100,000 in Canada. And this really builds on the commitments that Canada and Korea have already had already taken under the WTO agreement on government procurement. Okay, next slide please. This is my last slide. I just want to say something quickly about investment and this is something, the provisions on investment under the CKFTA may also benefit you as well. This really has been designed to give investors a more transparent and predictable investment environment and really help to mitigate any risks associated with investing in South Korea and Canada. Now, among other things, this chapter provides protection against discriminatory and arbitrary treatment, protection from expropriation without prompt and adequate compensation, and of course access to a dispute settlement process if you feel that you or your investment undertaking have been discriminated against. And, you know, the core obligations with respect to investment are really mirror ones that I just went through on services, things like national treatment. So parties will treat each other's investors in the worst than their own. And most of your nation, if one party gives an investment from another country that are treatment, they will apply that to Canadians as well and similarly to South Korea. And minimum standards of treatment for investors and of course temporary, sorry, temporary entry also applies for investors as I just went over. Last slide, please. I know I've covered a lot in a very short period of time. Of course, the Q&A function is there to answer any questions. And, you know, please feel free to contact me at the contact information that is up on the screen here as well. I know that Derek did mention that South Korea has indicated an interest in joining the CPTPP as well. And of course, if that application is successful, it will provide another layer of preferential access between Canada and Korea that may differ and be better in some ways than the access that is already provided under the CKFTA. And of course, we're monitoring that closely. In the meantime though, if leveraging the CKFTA or any FTA is something that you are interested in, please contact me and I'll make sure that you get the assistance that you need. Thank you. Okay. I will just keep talking. So, our next speaker is here to speak about the trade ecosystem and trends in Yeongi Province. Mr. Yi Ge Yeol serves as the director of the Global Trade Department of the Yeongi Business and Science Accelerator, GVSA, which focuses on realizing innovative employment creation by enhancing the competitiveness of small and medium-sized companies of Yeongi Province and promoting cutting-edge R&D through comprehensive and systematic support systems. Please take it away, Mr. Lee. Yes, hello. First, I would like to understand what you are saying in Korean. There is a person who is very good at communicating in front of me, so I will believe in communication and speak in Korean. Good morning everyone. Let me first ask for your understanding that I'm speaking in Korean and speaking through an interpreter. My name is Yi Ge Yeol, presenter of the session. I'm serving as director of Global Trade Department at GVSA, Yeongi Business and Science Accelerator. My name is Yi Ge Yeol, presenter of the session. I'm serving as director of Global Trade Department at GVSA, Yeongi Business and Science Accelerator. I would like to talk about the development of trade in Korea and the characteristics of the trade in Korea and in Canada. I would like to talk about the development of trade in Korea and in Canada. Today, I'm going to review some trade statistics of Korea. I'm sorry, to review the trade trends and suggest some ideas about developing our bilateral trade with Canada and British Columbia. First, if you look at the export structure of Korea in the past year, the big companies have 60 to 70% of the total export. Our middle-class companies have 18.2% of the total export. The economy is a little worse and the big companies are very high. There are still many companies who are actually looking for export but 18.2% are not. When we look at the trade statistics, nationwide, South Korea is a very export-oriented country and most of this export is covered by large conglomerates and large companies. They represent more than half of South Korea's export and SMEs small and medium-sized enterprises accounts only for 18.2%. When it comes to Gyeonggi Province, Gyeonggi Province is even more dependent on large conglomerates than the entire nation. Overall, South Korea has about 96,000 trading enterprises and about one-third of these are located in Gyeonggi Province. In the last four years, when we look at the trade statistics, in 2018, there was a large conglomerate in Gyeonggi Province. In the last four years, the export and SMEs were the main points. And because of the COVID-19, in 2019 and 2020, we had the largest conglomerate in Gyeonggi Province. And last year, in 2021, the conglomerate was the largest conglomerate in Gyeonggi Province. This conglomerate was the biggest conglomerate in Gyeonggi Province. And if you continue to look at the trade statistics over the past four years, in 2018, both of South Korea's export and imports culminated and dropped in 2020 dramatically because of the COVID-19 outbreak. And in the last year, we succeeded in rebounding in both our trading and to reach another peak in the top one of the world's top eight trading country. As you can see in the map, in Gyeonggi Province, the highest trade was lost. But the difference between South Korea and Gyeonggi Province is that the trade is getting worse. I will explain that later. And if you continue to look at the table on the right side, Gyeonggi Province also recorded last year the highest level ever of trade volume. But unfortunately, our deficit has deepened. I'm going to come back to this and come back to this later to explain why. So, our top four trade partners in terms of trade volume are China, United States, Japan, and Vietnam. And Gyeonggi Province also has the same top four trade partners in terms of trade volume. Are China, United States, Japan, the same top four trade partners as the entire nation? The entire Korea is half dependent on these top four trade partners. We are even more dependent on these top four trade partners because the trade with these top four countries accounts for 64.1%. We are particularly dependent on China. If you look at the number 23.9% dependency to China of the entire South Korea and compare this number to 32%, almost one-third of Gyeonggi Province's dependency on China. And the reason is because most of Gyeonggi Province's businesses are manufacturing businesses and these businesses have factories in China and they are doing processing as a part of their trading activities. Now you guys are looking at top 10 key trade items of Korea if you look at exports. Semiconductors represent the absolute majority of South Korea's export followed by automobile and petroleum products. So our biggest import items include crude oil semiconductor and semiconductor equipment because we export a lot of semiconductors from the United States from the United States from the United States we export a lot of semiconductors we have to import many semiconductor equipment and we also have to import semiconductor products that South Korean companies produce overseas. And when it comes to the situation of Gyeonggi Province Gyeonggi Province is not very productive in petroleum products or synthetic regimes or maritime industry because they are not major industries of Gyeonggi Province. Our major items include the oil industry and the oil industry as well. Our major items include semiconductors automobile parts panel displays and sensors computers and wireless devices. From now on we will look at the convenience of South Korea and Canada and how we will talk about the development of education in South Korea. What is the bilateral trade of Korea and Canada? As of 2021 our bilateral trade volume is 13.1 billion. This represents about 1% of South Korea's total trade volume. In Canada is Korea's 18th biggest export partner and 25th biggest import partner. Out of this 13.1 billion Gyeonggi Province accounts for just 1.5 billion US dollars. In representation of Canada in Gyeonggi Province this trade volume is only mere 0.5% another half of Canada's representation in Korea's total trade volume. The major export items the biggest export item from Korea to Canada is cars. And others are cars. We have cars. We have cars. We have cars. We have cars. We have cars. We have cars. We have cars. We have cars. We have cars. We have cars. Of course in Taiwan we have cars. We have cars. We have cars. We have cars. We have cars. We have cars. And the other about 60% include steel products and petroleum products. Why Canada represents only a mere part in Gyeonggi-do's trade volume because Gyeonggi-do's major export item is semi-conductors, and we don't export a lot of semi-conductors in Canada. On the other hand, from Canada, the items we are investing in are mineral, mineral, and agricultural products. These areas are major, and they are about 7-8%. Major items we import from Canada include raw materials, minerals, and agricultural products. These three items account for 78% of our total import. I would like to say that we are having very limited items to trade as we try to develop our business relations of the two countries. Let me elaborate on four points as we look to develop our bilateral trade relationship. One of the most difficult things is that there is not enough information about Canada. There is not enough information, so it is difficult to develop a partner. In these two difficult situations, the middle-class companies have a small company, but they have a lot of pressure because they have time and cost in Canada. So we need to find ways to solve these problems. Small and medium enterprises, as I mentioned before, 97% of enterprises in Gyeonggi Province are small and medium-sized. They have very limited access to Canadian market because they have limited access of information and limited access to partnership in Canada. So if we find some solutions to assist them, it will be a big help for these small and medium enterprises. Secondly, I would like to suggest that Canadian businesses use South Korea as a stepping stone to enter the Asian-South East Asian market. South Korea has a strong relationship with the Asian-South Asian market. South Korea has a strong relationship with the Asian-South Asian market. South Korea has a strong relationship with Asian countries. We are close geographically and culturally. And ASEAN already consists of the second biggest economic block of South Korean economic cooperation, and South Korean companies have a large network with ASEAN communities. So it will be very helpful for Canadian businesses to enter the Asian market. So I would like to suggest that Canadian businesses join hand with South Korean business community in joint projects in ASEAN region. And my third suggestion is about the global supply chain. As a witness during the COVID-19 pandemic, we need to cooperate to resolve instability of global supply chain. As a Korean government, we are trying to reduce the risk by trying to solve various solutions to solve this problem. But there will be certain items that can be solved through cooperation between Canada and the United States. So we need to cooperate with the United States to solve these issues. This is not just a process that can be solved through cooperation. It will be one of the ways to solve the problem through manufacturing in both regions. chain risk. The South Korean government is doing many efforts to mitigate these risks. And I'm certainly believe that some of these items, the risks for some of these items can be resolved by cooperation with Canada. It is not just about trading items, but we can actually combine our businesses and materials that we have advantage from each side so that we can explore some ways to mitigate these risks. My last suggestion to develop bilateral trade between South Korea and Canada is to cooperate for joint research and development projects and joint commercialization projects. As our previous presenters mentioned, digital transition is being accelerated especially by this recent COVID-19 pandemic and eco-friendly industries are in the limelight. These industries of fourth industrial revolution are priorities in both of our countries. I am certain that there are a very huge area of cooperation in these new industries between our two countries, especially in some industries including hydrogen, electric cars, and battery. South Korea has advantages in commercialization technologies, so I believe that if our two countries join hand, we can certainly expand this new market. Thank you very much, Director Lee, for your fascinating presentation. You've certainly highlighted some excellent trade and investment opportunities and areas where we can work together. Next, I would like to introduce Ms. Yeom Se-ra, who serves as the Korean English interpreter and translator of the Governor of Gyeonggi Province. In addition, she is involved in the management of provincial FDI projects. She is going to speak on opportunities for trade and investment in Gyeonggi Province. The virtual floor is yours, Ms. Yeom. Before starting, let me ask for your understanding. We are dealing with some technical issues. While they are working on getting that presentation up, I will just remind everyone to continue to use the Q&A function. Lots of questions have been coming in and I think they are getting answered live, but we have lots of capacity to continue to answer your questions and, as I mentioned, we will have some time later to discuss those as well. All right, we are good. Thank you for the introduction, Ben. It is my pleasure to speak before you today, both as a presenter and an interpreter. Let me start with a quick quiz. Have you ever heard what Gyeonggi Province literally means? It literally means the province surrounding the capital, Seoul. This Gyeonggi Province is filled with fast investment opportunities. So if you are interested in growing your business or looking for somewhere to develop your brilliant ideas, please pay attention to this presentation. Just one or two hour flight away from Northeast Asia's major cities, including Beijing, Tokyo, and Shanghai, Gyeonggi Province is surrounded by a huge market comprising 1.6 billion population and a combined GDP of $21 trillion or a quarter of the entire gross world product. Gyeonggi Province also features ideal transportation infrastructure. We offer access to two international airports, as well as two international seaports, plus 19 expressways and eight railways, and in the near future, high-speed metropolitan railways known as GTX. So the products you manufacture here can be transported quickly, not only throughout Korea, but also to all parts of the world. Because of this excellence, Gyeonggi Province also has the nation's largest economically active population of 7.4 million people, including highly skilled human resources. In terms of enterprises as well, Gyeonggi leads the nation with over 870,000 SMEs, as well as many creative and innovative startups in diverse industries that can collaborate with yours. For this reason, it is natural that Gyeonggi Province is already being chosen as an investment destination by many foreign companies. To date, about 3,000 foreign firms have successfully established operations in our province, investing a total of $30 billion. In fact, Gyeonggi is home to world-leading South Korean companies such as Samsung, LG, SK Hynix, and Hyundai Kia. And renowned foreign companies that work with these companies also have invested, and they are all successfully operating in Gyeonggi Province. As you can see in this map, global enterprises such as Flam Research, Continental, Bosch, HP, Linde, Merck, and Alvak have all achieved remarkable growth here, and I hope the Canadian businesses can be the next. Gyeonggi Province is probably home to eight foreign company exclusive industrial complexes. These complexes provide reliable business sites for global investors. As of 2020, these complexes housed 98 foreign companies include employing a total of 10,000 employees and generating a combined revenue of $6.9 billion. And actually, I wish I could share with you a success story of some of your Canadian friends here, but unfortunately, I have to point out that Canada is underrepresented in our industrial complexes. So let me encourage you all to seek opportunities here to test your ideas or commercialize your proprietary technologies. Tenants of foreign company exclusive industrial complexes can enjoy dramatic lease cut, five-year duty exemption of your capital goods as well as 50 to 100 percent discount of acquisition and property taxes depending on your business sector and investment size. On top of this, we also provide customized one-stop administrative services to foreign companies so that we can facilitate your business success. So discover our excellent hardware and software that you can use as a test bed before entering the huge Asian market. We truly are an ideal stepping stone for your global market entry. Thank you for your attention. Thank you very much for your presentation, Sarah. There are some exciting trade and investment opportunities in Gyeongi Province for sure, and hopefully we can improve on that under representation that you just mentioned, as well as facilitating some partnerships through today's session. Our final speaker for today is Nick McLennan, who is an export advisor with the export navigator program. Nick is going to speak about programs and supports for BC exporters. Having founded two companies in his youth, Nick knows the unique challenges and opportunities that younger entrepreneurs face. Alongside his experience founding and growing his own companies, Nick also has experience promoting Canadian goods and services abroad from working as a trade commissioner with Global Affairs Canada. This solidarity with youth entrepreneurship and unique experience in the export sector makes Nick a highly valuable resource to his clients, allowing him to provide effective contacts, resources, and guidance. Over to you now, Nick. Awesome. Thanks for the very warm introduction, Ben. Awesome. So my name's Nick Liss. I'm an export advisor with the export navigator program. Some of you are probably wondering, what is export navigator? And after all the information that we got today on the opportunities and some of the challenges and strategies to overcome them, with regard to the Korean market, you're probably wondering, my goodness, where do I start? Well, if you're a BC small, medium size enterprise, you start right here with us. So if we could go over the next slide, please. So what is the export navigator program? What is that we do? Well, we help BC businesses grow by guiding them through the export process. As you can see here, we've helped over 650 businesses based in BC grow their business beyond BC's borders. That includes across Canada, Pacific Northwest, and markets like South Korea. We help folks by helping them understand the export process and making sure that we equipment talked with the right resource at the right time. Next slide, please. What does that mean? Well, that means we have a team of advisors located throughout rural British Columbia that help you develop an export plan and help you walk through that process. We sit down with you. We help determine where it is your business is at right now and where it is it needs to be to export successfully. From there, we help you develop a strategy that goes at your own pace and addresses the unique needs that your business has. And then from there on in, we help sort of act as a guide walking along that journey with you, making sure that you address any challenges that come up. Of course, COVID was a big one, and we helped a lot of businesses access some of the COVID related support resources available to them so that they could not only just survive but also thrive. With regards to South Korea and whatnot, we help put you in touch with folks like the BC Trade and Investment Office or Global Affairs Canada, and we facilitate those connections at the right time. So you go pre-vetted and you can go with the confidence knowing that you are ready, you're at that stage to take it to the next level. So as a result of participating in the program, you get that one-on-one consulting service from your local export advisor, hours of free consulting services. We work at your own pace, you get the export readiness assessment, and after working with your export advisor for a bit, you've got that export plan so you feel confident moving forward. Next slide please. So you can see we've got a diverse team located throughout rural British Columbia. Our services are limited to areas outside Metro Vancouver and Greater Victoria time. So as you can see here, we cover just about every corner of the province as well. We've got specialty advisors for those businesses, majority owned by folks that identify as either women, youth, youth being 29 and under, or Indigenous. Next slide please. So while Dramaties, 12 assists in Kelowna that's participating in the program, and as you can see here, we really help folks from all walks of life whether you're a startup or whether you're already sort of well along your business journey, export successfully. Next slide please. The Squall and Botanicals, another one an Indigenous owned company in rural British Columbia, and we help them create an effective export plan so they've been able to go from a small locally orientated business to one that is selling beyond BC's borders successfully. Next slide please. So who can apply? Well, as I said, right now the program is limited to those small medium-sized enterprises outside Metro Vancouver and Greater Victoria. So if you're in rural British Columbia, we take clients from any sector. As you can see, we've got a very diverse portfolio, any size and at any stage of exporting. So if you're looking at just getting into Alberta to start, perhaps you just want to get your feet wet, or if you're looking to sell to South Korea and hit the ground running, we help all folks out in terms of planning things out effectively and making sure that you export right the first time. So you're not falling into those common pitfalls, you're not wasting time, you're not losing money. And as a result, you've seen some of the lovely testimonials that our clients provided with regards to our services. So if you are eligible and if you are interested in learning more about how to export successfully the first time round, next slide please. My contact information is here, Nicholas.exportnavigator.ca. You'll also find us online on Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn, Export Navigator. And we look forward to hearing from you and helping you along your export journey. Thank you. Thank you very much, Nick. I know you'll make some new connections after that presentation. Okay, so that's it for our formal presentations and speakers for today. We have fielded numerous questions in the Q&A so far, and many of those were quite specific. So I know some of the speakers have responded directly to those in the Q&A box, but there are a few minutes left. We do have some time left if there are any additional questions for our speakers. We have, of course, not only BC representatives, but also those providing trade supports and a wealth of representatives from Gengy Province. There is a question that has just come in through the Q&A, and this would be for you, Nick, and that is, is there any sort of fee for the Export Navigator service? Can you please advise? No. Our services are completely free. So we're jointly funded by both the Province of British Columbia and the Federal Government of Canada.  So again, hours of free consulting services available to you. Thank you, Nick. Okay, so I'll just continue to watch that just to see if anything else comes in. In the meantime, I just want to open up the floor and allow any of our presenters to add anything else that they may want to say or respond to anything that their fellow presenters have mentioned today. We have a few minutes left to do that. Hi, Ben. I try to answer most of the questions that came in with the private message. However, please note that we do have separate sector managers in our office who would be more than happy to answer sector-specific questions, including myself. So if you can please email the questions to me, I will distribute amongst our other commercial officers of the office and answer them accordingly. Thank you. Thank you very much, Derek. Any of our other presenters, including those in Gangie Province, who would like to add anything else? Thank you for your meeting today. I would like to look forward to meeting in the first place to meeting as soon after the overcoming the pandemic. Thank you. Thank you very much, Director Goom. I think we share that feeling. And as the Minister Chow mentioned in his opening video as well, it's certainly something that we look forward to. Okay. Well, if there are no other questions at this point, then I'm going to close things off. As you can see, we are surrounded by a wealth of tools in our trade and investment toolkit from insightful market intelligence to on-the-ground expertise to the opportunities under the CKFTA to make you more competitive in both South Korea and in British Columbia and in Canada. This is a collaborative effort, and we are all here to support you. There are clearly some terrific opportunities for trade and investment in Gangie Province, and we're very appreciative of our partners from Gangie Province and the Gangie Business and Science Accelerator for joining us today. And let's not forget about the videos that kicked off today's session highlighting Gangie Province and BC's efforts to further pursue economic and government-to-government cooperation and exchanges in the areas of trade and the economy, culture and arts and sports, disaster response and safety, education and, of course, personnel exchanges. Please keep your eyes open. There will be a follow-up email with all of the presentations that were provided today, as well as some other resources, as well as a link to today's webinar. There will also be future FTA free trade agreements sessions specifically directed to British Columbian businesses hosted by our ministry. That's it for today's webinar. I hope you found it useful. Thank you all for joining and a special thank you to all of our speakers for your contributions. We hope to hear from everyone soon. Take care.