Investment Climate in the EAEU and Korea's Entry Strategy

This study proposes to lay the foundation for economic cooperation and expand industrial cooperation. The following four measures are the keys to create an institutional base for economic cooperation. First, it will be critical to conclude a Korea-EAEU FTA. Such an FTA would provide a new concept for strategic cooperation in the so-called "Eurasian value-chain system," as well as in the new Eurasian growth space. It will be a window of opportunity for the Eurasian region to establish significant links with Korea, and to bring the APEC region closer to Russia. Second, utilizing the Korea-Russia investment platform when entering the EAEU market is an important element. The Korea-Russia investment platform created in 2013 has not been utilized at all up to now. Through discussion with Russia, it will be necessary to adjust the investment destinations, industries, methods, and scope of cooperation to employ the platform. In this way, the platform can be expanded and become more useful and effective. Third, designing investment package support programs for SMEs is another significant measure. Overseas investment by SMEs will be important in building a foundation for cooperation with the EAEU when considering the economic complementarity of the two sides. Such collaboration is possible due to the EAEU’s demand for modernization in its manufacturing sector. Job creation and competitiveness improvement could be realized through the sophistication and internationalization of Korean SMEs. Fourth, it will be necessary to establish a "graduate school for Eurasian policy." When the agenda of strengthening cooperation with Russia and the northern countries is incorporated into Korea's mid- and long-term international strategy, it will become an urgent task to build a human resources nurturing system. Thus the founding of such a graduate school should be seriously considered. Given Russia's growing political and economic presence in the international community, it is necessary to train elite talent to deal with issues regarding the EAEU. In order to lay the institutional foundation, a close cooperation between the two sides is significant, perhaps by reorganizing or newly launching channels under the governments. Also necessary will be an organization that is mainly dedicated to Eurasian issues. Most importantly, embarking on negotiations for a Korea-EAEU FTA should come first to promote investment between Korea and the EAEU. Members of the EAEU think that the Korea–EAEU FTA has to extend beyond the scope of conventional FTAs. Bilateral industrial cooperation stimulated by Korea's investment must be included and enhanced. To enable Korea-EAEU FTA negotiations to commence, an "investment promotion committee" should be formed and the needs of EAEU member states must be discussed. At the same time, it will be necessary to establish a "northern cooperation fund" which supports SMEs to enter the EAEU market under the Ministry of Strategy and Finance. The positive effects that a Korea-EAEU FTA would have on investment should be communicated through a number of regular investment forums. Constructing industrial zones and discovering the investment promising sectors in the EAEU will have to take place as well. In particular, industrial complexes jointly planned by the two sides will help Korean enterprises to enter the EAEU market. For this, additional studies on the conditions of possible industrial zones and specialized industries should be carried out. Investment promising sectors have to be detected through an analysis of industrial competitiveness, policies and investment climate.