The French-Korean Chamber of Commerce and Industry has opened a new business center with a spacious office for business representatives and meetings, the group said Monday.

The expansion comes amid a rise in the number of French companies tapping into the South Korean market. The FKCCI said it added 25 new members in 2019, for a current total of 370.

“This is a milestone for us to be able from now on to welcome our members and the French-Korean community in our own premises,” said FKCCI Chairman David-Pierre Jalicon at a ceremony held Feb. 10 in Gangnam, southern Seoul.

He said the chamber had maintained high recognition among institutions and high-profile personalities, for example by hosting an economic forum with President Moon Jae-in and an exclusive dinner with former French President Francois Hollande.

The ceremony was attended by some 120 officials, including French Ambassador to Korea Philippe Lefort.

The new office, with some 400 square meters of floor space, is double the size of the previous one, offering support for some 40 French companies and 25 FKCCI staff members, and functions as a “real incubator,” the group said. 

By Kim Bo-gyung (lisakim425@heraldcorp.com)