Nigeria-South Korean bilateral trade volume hits $5.6m in 3 years

The volume of import and export trade between Nigeria and South Korea has amounted to $5,573,490million in the past three years, 2016 to 2018, the Korean Trade Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA), has said.

A breakdown shows that trade amounting to $985,673 million import and export trade were recorded in 2016; $2,622,405million recorded in 2017 while $1,965,412 was recorded in 2018.

On export from South Korea to Nigeria, about $460,813 was recorded in 2016, $2,121,967 recorded in 2017 and $917,850 was recorded in 2018, amounting to total of $3,500,630million in three years.

Also, import from Nigeria to South Korea shows that $524,860 was recorded in 2016, total of $500,438 was recorded in 2017 and $1,047,562 was recorded in 2018, totaling $2,072,860 million worth of trade in three years.

According to KOTRA, the trade volume in the first eight months of 2019, January to August, amounted to $984,871 which represents $540,627 worth of export from South Korea to Nigeria and $444,244 worth of import from Nigeria to South Korea.

Meanwhile, South Korean government has intensified moves to strengthen its business relationship with Nigeria in key area of the economy. This was the thrust of a forum organised by KOTRA in Lagos recently with the theme ‘Sustainable Business for Economic Development,’ which was attended by among others, the potential Korean companies willing to invest in Nigeria.

Speaking at the event, In-Tae Lee, South Korean ambassador to Nigeria, said both countries have proven to the world that more can be done in areas like ship building, ports development, rail construction, power and renewable energy, gas pipeline and others.

He pointed out that areas like education, culture and e-government training exchanges are crucial to development of bilateral relations between Nigeria and South Korea.

Lee further disclosed that Nigeria is the second largest trade partner of South Korea in Africa and the biggest construction market on the continent.

BusinessDay understands that aside the Korean companies presently in Nigeria, an additional seven Korean firms with interests in finance, medical equipment manufacturing, information technology, agricultural equipment, fashion and beauty, participated at the event.

They include Ace Global Company; Furaha, a beauty manufacturing brand; Paylink, which deals in mobile money transaction; Samsung Construction, and Shinhan Bank, a leading financial institution, ranked 67th out of top 500 global banking brands.

Others include Creativehill, an IT service company that creates value in Agri business; blockchain technology, and Gyeongsangbuk that partners Dangote in agriculture.

Adeshina Emmanuel, director, Investment Promotion at Nigeria Investment Promotion Commission (NIPC), listed the nation’s large population, sophisticated financial market, improving business climate, strategic location and generous investor protections as advantages of investing in Nigeria.

According to him, the two decades of political stability, Nigeria’s target to be the 14th largest economy in the world by 2050 and running a private sector-led economy makes the country attractive.

Yusuf Bashar, Customs assistant comptroller general in charge of ICT, spoke on the service modernisation and its existing partnership with Korean Customs Service. He also gave advice on efficient clearing process at the ports.

Jean Bakole, director of ECOWAS for United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO), who spoke on Nigeria Country Programme that is driven by UNIDO, highlighted business opportunities for Korean companies and available partnership potentials.

Finding shows that notable Korean companies like Samsung Heavy Industries, Daewoo and Expression have made marks in Nigeria’s oil, maritime and fashion sectors, and some of them have received honours for creating employment opportunities with transfer of knowledge through training to Nigerians.

For instance, Expression, a firm that produces female hair accessories, was said to have provided not less than 10,000 direct employments to youths in the country.