December 10, the All Russia Public Organization Business Russia and the Korean International Trade Association (KITA) held a webinar "Forecast of trade and economic cooperation between Russia and the Republic of Korea in 2021". Results of the current year’s trade and economic interaction between the two countries were summed up and forecasts for 2021 were made during the event.

Mrs. Nonna Kagramanyan, Vice-President, Head of the Executive Committee of Business Russia, addressed the participants with a welcoming speech. Emphasizing the interest of the organization's members in establishing contacts with partners in the Republic of Korea, she noted that “the new economic reality dictates new rules, Russian companies are in search of new markets, they are forming new technological and value chains with foreign partners”.

KITA Vice President for International Relations Mr. Cho Hak Hee in his greeting to the participants noted that despite the decline in international trade 2021 has become a significant year for the development of bilateral cooperation.

Mr. Oleg Pirozhenko, Head of the Economic Department of the Trade Representation of the Russian Federation in the Republic of Korea, made a speech on promising points of growth in trade and economic interaction between the two countries. Expressing confidence that "entrepreneurs in Russia and Korea will be able to find more and more new growth points," he spoke about the recent success stories in bilateral trademade despite all the objective restrictions caused by the pandemic. To name a few, on the basis of export contracts concluded this autumn with the support of the Trade Representation, the Russian manufacturer Rustrans DV began supplying wood fuel pellets to the Republic of Korea, and Grikol-Limited supplied 300 tons of anti-ice filler to be used in infrastructure projects of the Korean Expressway Corporation. The report also noted the potential for bilateral cooperation in the field of information technology and software due to the unfolding transition to a new technological structure. In addition, the speaker emphasized the importance of proactive approach for utilizing the opportunities provided by deferred demand, which isprojected to open up with the improvement of the epidemiological situation in such promising areas as tourism and transport.

The panel of the webinar was also joined by the KITA Chief Researcher Mr. Kim Kyung Hoon (with a presentation on the results of 2020 and the forecast for 2021), Professor of Kukmin University Mr. Lee Sang Joon (with a presentation “30th anniversary of trade and economic relations between Korea and Russia: new cooperation begins with rethinking "), the Business Russia business Ambassador in Korea Mr. Alexey Zakharov (with a report on communication with Korean business associations and the most promising areas of bilateral cooperation) and a member of the Business Russia General Council Mr. Alexander Maslennikov (report on the structure of investment activities in Russia).