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INVESTOR VISA ITALY POINTS OF VIEW Jacopo Giuman: Italy as a key player in South Korean businesses European strategy Interview by Edoardo Bonatti 8 Since he took ofﬁce in January 2019, Jacopo Giuman is the new Secretary General of the Italian Chamber of Commerce in Korea. Before accepting this position, he worked for a long time in the fashion industry as owner of his own fashion agency and, for almost three years, as Sogno Factory’s export manager in Seoul. INVESTORVISA – You have just become Secretary General of the Italian Chamber of Commerce in Korea. How was your impact with this new reality? GIUMAN – The Italian Chamber of Commerce in Korea is an organization that has been working for years to establish and maintain commercial relations between South Korea and Italy, two major nations with an established role in the world of international trade. Consequently, taking responsibility for this important and prestigious task led me to interact not only with new business realities but also with the Korean social and cultural framework that is inter- twined with and influences the import-export activity. Counting on a strong synergy between the Korean and the Italian staff, our institution plays, above all, a fundamental role in commercial affairs, but also contributes to the cultural relations between the two countries. This puts further emphasis on the concept of “Made in Italy” as a synonym of quality, creativity, and excellence that still today stands out in the manufacturing sector abroad. Looking to the future, what are the Chamber’s most successful activities that you deem meritorious of further attention? In which direction do you think the action of the Chamber will develop? Among the most successful activities organized by the Italian Chamber of Commerce in Korea, there are certainly the monthly networking events held in various Italian restaurants in Korea holding the “Italian Hospitality” certiﬁcation. In addition, the Chamber organizes entrepreneurial delegations to Korea, bringing Italian excellence in contact with the local market through B2B meetings, with a focus on the main “Made in Italy” export sectors, such as food, fashion, and industrial supplies. At the same time, the Chamber, at the request of the special companies of the Italian Chambers of Commerce aiming at the internationalization of businesses, selects and invites Korean trade operators from various sectors to participate in business delegations to Italy. Starting this year and for the whole of 2020, the Italian Chamber of Commerce in Korea will be involved in the “True Italian Taste” project, promoted and ﬁnanced by the Ministry of Economic Development. Its objectives are to enhance Italian production, increase the consumer’s awareness of authentic Italian products over the “Italian sounding” ones and help companies to better position themselves on target markets, assisting them in improving their visibility. Therefore, the objectives of these and of the Chamber’s other activities are twofold: on the one hand, they aim at promoting new commercial relations and consolidating those already there, on the other they try to expand the Korean market share of those industries in which Italy excels. Last year the commercial exchange between Italy and South Korea recorded a sharp recovery, reaching a total of about 10 billion dollars, but traditionally bilateral investments between the two countries are not very developed. The main operations from Korea to Italy are embodied by the acquisition of large industries by Korean conglomerates and by joint ventures to be exploited on other markets. What chances are there for Italy to be able to present itself as an attractive market in industrial segments and sectors that are now scarcely considered? According to A.T. Kearney FDI Conﬁdence Index, in 2018 Italy once again entered the world top ten for the attractiveness of Foreign Direct Investments (something that has not happened since 2004). The implementation of the “Industry 4.0” plan is, according to the American consulting ﬁrm contributing the most to this positive evolution of our country’s international image. International observers consider this policy as having a strong effect on the historical problems afﬂicting the Italian economic system (energy supplying, business fragmentation, and extreme bureaucracy). Likewise, the strong domestic and foreign demand for Italian products and an unemployment rate at a ﬁve-year low are cited among the reasons for the investors’ interest. In contrast, the publication highlights how both the political instability and, even more so, the low growth estimate of our economy may act as stop factors. Based on this positive climate, bilateral relations between Italy and South Korea are evolving a lot in recent times. Last December a mission brought the Under- Secretary of State for Economic Development, Michele Geraci, to Seoul. The visit focused on the deﬁnition of plans to implement the “strategic partnership” between the two countries. Among these plans, it is interesting to mention the

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