This file photo shows South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol (R) shaking hands with Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis during their talks in New York on Sept. 20, 2023, on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly. (Image courtesy of Yonhap)
SEOUL, Oct. 5 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea’s Industry Minister Bang Moon-kyu met with a senior Greek official Thursday and discussed ways to boost bilateral cooperation on the eco-friendly shipbuilding industry and the overall economy, the industry ministry said.
During a meeting with Kostas Fragogiannis, Greece’s deputy foreign and economic minister, Bang called for joint efforts to expand bilateral trade and investment and to diversify trade items, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.
Two-way trade stood at US$2.13 billion in 2022, compared with $3.34 billion in 2021 and $1.66 billion in 2020, government data showed.
Bang also proposed stronger bilateral cooperation on the eco-friendly shipbuilding industry to better respond to tougher global emission regulations, as the International Maritime Organization set a goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the shipping sector by 50 percent by 2050 compared with 2008 levels.
In June, South Korea and Greece agreed to develop technologies together to renovate existing ships into eco-friendly ones that use liquefied natural gas, liquefied petroleum gas, methanol and other clean energy resources.
Bang asked for the European nation’s support for South Korea’s bid to host the 2030 World Expo in its southeastern port city of Busan, the ministry said.
(Yonhap)
