FKCCI attends the MOU signature ceremony between the Ministry of Justice and Foreign Investment Ombudsman to prevent international investment disputes

The Ministry of Justice and the Foreign Investment Ombudsman signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to prevent international investment disputes at KOTRA's headquarters Invest Korea Plaza (IKP) on April 30.

Justice Minister Park Beom-gye, Foreign Investment Ombudsman Kim Sung Jin, FKCCI Chairman David Pierre Jalicon (France), AMCHAM Chairman James Kim (US), BCCK Chairman Sean Blakely (UK), KBCCCI Chairman Yang Hyo (China), JCCI Chairman Akio Mimura (Japan) and other representatives of foreign investors such as Solvay and HP attended the signing ceremony.

The Ministry of Justice and the Foreign Investment Ombudsman are planning to establish a cooperation system for the prevention and management of Investor State Dispute Settlement (ISDS).

Justice Minister Park Beom-gye stated that "currently, only the Foreign Investment Ombudsman plays a very important role in the prevention of international investment disputes. However, our two organizations will work together to find solutions to problems encountered by foreign-invested companies."

Foreign Investment Ombudsman Kim Sung Jin added “it is most important that the conflict between the state and foreign-invested companies develop into an international investment dispute”.

In his congratulatory speech, FKCCI Chairman David-Pierre Jalicon applauded such positive initiative which fills a gap as “even though there is a Bilateral Investment Treaty between France and Korea since 1979, it does not provide a direct dispute resolution clause between an investor and the Korean state under the ICSID (International Center for Settlement Investment Dispute)”. “We do believe in early conflict resolution through constant dialogue, which is from our point of view the best way to preserve the interest of the French Investment in Korea […] and reinforce the attractiveness of Korea”, he added.

Chairman Jalicon mentioned the recent difficulties as well for French businesspeople to get visas, thanked the Ombudsman and the Ministry for their efforts, and hopes to keep the dialogue open in the future on those matters. FKCCI is currently working in various ways to resolve visa problems of its members on a case-by-case basis.

Click here for more information on visa status: https://www.fkcci.com/actualites/n/news/covid-19-exceptions-on-english-visa-issuance-for-residents-in-france.html