무협 "한-불, 프리미엄 소비재•스타트업•ICT 협력 유망"+현대차 mou

France has the world's seventh biggest economy... and the third largest in Europe trailing behind Germany and Britain.
While in Paris, President Moon Jae-in is expected to strengthen bilateral economic cooperation.
Kim Ji-yeon zooms in on where the two sides are likely to collaborate.
France is Korea's 29th trading partner and demand for Korean goods is on the rise... helping Korea's trade deficit to France lower to around 2-point-8-billion U.S. dollars in 2017.
A report by the Korea International Trade Association... shows automobiles took the top spot among Korean export goods to France.
Sales from Korea's largest auto maker Hyundai Motor to France alone climbed by more than 22-percent during the January-to-August period from the same period last year.
Cooperation between Seoul and Paris in the automobile sector is expected to take a boost, ... as Hyundai Motor signs a trilateral deal with two French multinational companies Air Liquide and ENGIE... to increase the number of hydrogen vehicles to 5-thousand units by 2025.
Apart from French gourmet foods, Korean imports from France, such as aircraft and components rose by more than 53-percent during the first eight months this year from the same period last year to nearly 1-point-4-billion dollars.
The report projects French demand for Korean premium consumer goods, especially those related to healthcare, could rise... given that the rapidly aging French population has high purchasing power with income per capita standing at an estimated 38-thousand dollars.
The report also says Korean startups trying to advance into Europe could eye France for assistance where both local and foreign IT startups are nurtured through its La French Tech policy.
France is also home to the world's largest startup campus, Station F which hosts some one-thousand startups... that receive support from world-renown accelerators including Facebook, Microsoft and Korea's largest internet portal operator Naver.
Kim Ji-yeon, Arirang News.