Newsletter  ¡µ
The European Union-Korea Industrial Cooperation Agency, acting as the European Liaison Office of the European Union Chamber of Commerce in Korea (EUCCK), was set up in November 2004. It is registered under the Belgium law as a non-profit organization said ¡°ASBL -Association Sans But Lucratif¡±. EUKICA is administratively headquartered in Brussels, and has a business office in Paris. The overall objective of EUKICA is to create business opportunities, promote trade and implement industrial cooperation projects in favour of European and Korean companies, with a particular emphasis on Small & Medium Enterprises ( SMEs ). The creation of EUKICA proceeds from the will of the European Union Chamber of Commerce in Korea to have a liaison office in Europe. It came within the framework of a twofold purpose: - Being closer to the EU Institutions and Multipliers in order to carry out its lobbying activities with more effectiveness; - Being closer to the EU Companies interested in business with the Korean Peninsula in order to provide them with the best assistance.
www.eboasia.eu
Jul / 2008
EBO (European Business Organisation) capacity building in market information and dissemination
We are pleased to inform you of the launch of www.eboasia.eu, a e-plateform designed to cater for the need for a single electronic platform reporting on all major trade issues for European business in the Asian region and providing concrete recommendations to the local authorities.
It is freely available to all EU companies, Member States, EBOs and other stakeholders on both continents and should represent an invaluable source of first-hand data.
The website has been created as part of the Asia Invest project ¡°EBO Capacity Building in Market Information and Dissemination¡±.
EU entrepreneurs operating in Asia or wishing to do business in the Asian region are strongly encouraged to visit our site regularly to take advantage of the information provided to them.

Since December 2007, EUKICA is actively taking part in the ¡°EBO (European Business Organisation) capacity building in market information and dissemination¡±
which was approved in September 2007 by the European Commission within the framework of its Asia-Invest II Programme (*).

The aim of this fourteen month project is twofold:
- To strengthen the capacity of EBO Malaysia (main Applicant), EBO Vietnam (Asian Partner) by benchmarking other EBOs¡¯ experience in research of trade and regulatory issues, the organization of sectoral working groups, and the development, publication and promotion of annual ¡°Trade Issues and Recommendations¡±.
- To answer the need of a single electronic platform that reports on all major trade issues for European business in the Asian region, and that provides concrete recommendations to the local authorities. The information will be freely available to all EU companies, Member States, EBOs and other multipliers and stakeholders in Europe and Asia. This electronic tool will represent an invaluable resource of first-hand, up-to-date information for all stakeholders.

The project gathers the EUMCCI (EU-Malaysia Chamber of Commerce and Industry), EUROCHAM (European Chamber of Commerce in Vietnam) and EUKICA who will share the experience and know-how of EUCCT (EU Chamber of Commerce in Taiwan) and EUCCK (European Union Chamber of Commerce in Korea).

EUKICA, as the EU partner, is in charge of the creation and management of the project website and the promotion of the project to EU stakeholders through the issuing of a regular e-newsletter. This will capacitate EUKICA to further develop into the European back-office of the Asian EBOs, thus strengthening the whole network in terms of capacity dissemination and lobbying.

The kick-off meeting was held in Kuala Lumpur on 18th & 19th February last where the partners worked on an action plan for the coming months, setting objectives and deadlines for each respective task and work team.

* Asia-Invest is a European Union Initiative that aims to promote and support Euro-Asian business co-operation. The programme provides assistance to intermediary organisations to facilitate mutually beneficial partnerships between companies in Europe and Asia, as well as to strengthen the framework conditions to increase trade and investment flows between the two regions.
For further information on the project, please contact EUKICA:
Tel +33 1 45 01 91 62
eukica@eukica.org