Minister Mounir Mahjoubi of State for Digital Affairs, France joined FKCCI Business Award Ceremony & New Year Seollal Party as a guest honor, according to the FKCCI(French-Korea Chamber of Commerce & Industry).

On Feb. 18-19, Mahjoubi visited Korea with a view to supporting cooperations forged through digital-related officials with a theme of artificial intelligence and to discuss priority tasks between the two countries in the field of regulation.

By visiting Japan and Korea, Minister Mahjoubi exchanged opinions regarding digital regulation tasks and artificial intelligence with the two nations, most important partners for France in the field of technology, economy and politics, said the Embassy of France in a statement.

Ahead of his departure from France, Minister Mahjoubi said: «We will review common priority tasks such as digital regulations and artificial intelligence with Korean & Japan partners during my visit period to Korea & Japan».

In the 5th Korea-France New Industry Technology Cooperation Forum which was held at the JW Mariott Seoul on Feb. 19, Vice Minister Cheong Seung-il from MOTIE(Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy) suggested:»Let's preoccupy the future technology system(paradigm) through bold investments about manufacturing innovation and new industry R&D through manufacturing company digitalization»

In a meeting with Minister Mounir Mahjoubi of State for Digital Affairs, Cheong also proposed to enlarge commerce & investment cooperations of new industry fields between the two nations and to strengthen hydrogen economy era cooperations including hydrogen car dissemination proliferation.

In the 17th Korea-France Industry Cooperation Committee as well which was held afternoon on Feb. 19th at the same venue, main agendas were manufacturing innovation policy sharing, investment enlargement ways, cluster start-up hydrogen economy policy sharing as well as hydrogen car cooperation strengthening, and last but not least new industry technology cooperation etc.

While Minister Mounir Mahjoubi of State for Digital Affairs, French Amb. Pabien Penone and over 100 FKCCI member companies were on hand at the Emerald Room Hotel Shilla in the evening at the same day, FKCCI New Year Party bestowed FKCCI French Business Awards upon three categories such as Enterpreneur part award, Corporate social responsibility part award and last but not least This year's product/service part award.

The following is a statememt issued by FKCCI regarding its French Business Awards 2019. -Ed.

The French Korean Chamber of Commerce and industry hosted the very first edition of the French Business Awards 2019 ceremony during its annual Seollal New Year Party held in the Shilla hotel on February 19th 2019. We were honored to welcome for the occasion the French Minister for Digital Affairs Mr. Mounir Mahjoubi who gave an encouraging speech and delivered the awards to the laureates.

Targeting French businesses members of the Chamber of Commerce, these awards were designed to evaluate and value their performances and innovation, as well as their contribution to strengthening economic bilateral relations. These awards highlighted the actions of the candidates in 3 categories:

• Product and Service of the Year, for those who innovate
• Entrepreneur, for the young French corporations who conquered new markets In Korea with a remarkable track record
• Corporate Social Responsibility, for those who take action for the people and the environment

The jury composed of the board members of the FKCCI including CEOs of major French companies in Korea, along with representatives from French and Korean media designated the winners for each category. Candidates provided informative files including a description of their activities, their remarkable track record in Korea, their future projects, their strategy to overcome possible difficulties on the Korean market, along with supportive documents such as communications contents and success stories and references.

In the category of “Product and Service of the Year”, Thales Korea received the award. Headed by Mr. Patrick DEFRANOUX, this well-known multinational company established in Korea since 1983 which specializes in Defense, Transportation, Security and Aerospace domains, convinced our jury by their interesting solution for secured payment on smartphones such as the Samsung Galaxy, in a country where mobile payments market grows at an unprecedented pace.

In the category “Entrepreneur”, the jury was convinced by France Gourmet and Adriel.AI. France Gourmet, established since 2013 in Korea showed a successful strategy in overcoming the challenges of a foreign entrepreneur in the Korea agri-business. Headed by Mr. Romuald PIETERS, this young structure showed remarkable performance in developing the French “Art de Vivre” in Korea, offering high-end traditional and artisanal locally produced Delicatessen and catering services well established in the French-Korean community, including high-level institutions such as the Embassy. The jury was impressed by its resilience and long-lasting performance in the not-so-easy agribusiness.

The second winner in the category “Entrepreneur” is Adriel.AI represented by Ms. Sophie EOM & Mr. Olivier DUCHENNE and present in Korea since 2017. Adriel.AI is specialized in AI-based digital marketing solution and consulting services. Our jury was seduced by this start-up’s digital solution and young business model to help companies tackle this digital era.

Finally, Bolloré Logistics Korea won the award for the CSR category. Represented by Mr. Thibault JANSSENS and present in Korea since 1988, Bolloré Logistics is a global leader in international transport and logistics. The jury was impressed by the diversity and the number of actions in relation to the environment and to tackle social issues tailored especially to the Korean society. Its contribution to the campaign against breast cancer or to urban farming through its beehive structure called “Honey Factory” in Seoul was exemplary actions inspiring the whole business community. Mr. Thibault JANSSENS highlighted during the event that he was not afraid of “taboo” topics and reaffirmed his commitment to involve its company in more activities in the future.

The candidates will go international with our support!

These business awards are also an international event that gathers candidacies from over 40 CCI abroad! This competition will take place in Paris on June 24th 2019 held under the patronage of French President Emmanuel Macron and sponsored by various major organizations and media. It gathers all success stories to promote the « French touch » - made of innovation, know-hows and social contribution all around the globe. We are confident the laureates in Korea will be successful in representing the French-Korean business community in Paris in June.

Staff reporter Chang Soo-hyuck