The Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry said Thursday it held a meeting with companies entering New Northern countries to discuss success factors and market entry strategies.

The New Northern countries -- a term coined by the government -- are Russia, Moldova, Mongolia, Belarus, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan, Ukraine, Georgia, China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan.

The meeting was attended by Yeo Han-gu, head of the Northern Economic Cooperation Committee, large companies such as SK E&C, Posco International and Hyundai Engineering, as well as medium-sized companies.

“The New Northern regions such as Russia and Kazakhstan have a preconceived notion that the business environment is poor, and there are areas where the performance is not properly evaluated,” said KCCI Vice Chairman Woo Tae-hee.

“It is very meaningful to share economic cooperation achievements and success factors in the New Northern region.”

Yeo said, “The fields of cooperation with the countries are diversifying from energy and infrastructure such as plants, construction and shipbuilding to health care, agriculture and food industries. And, participating companies are expanding from large companies to startups and small and medium-sized enterprises.”

“The government will spare no support to promote private economic cooperation with the New Northern regions.”

Bang Sung-jong, head of SK E&C’s overseas infrastructure development business group, said public-private partnerships in emerging countries in the New Northern region are highly uncertain and they require a lot of time to win orders, citing the case of the Almaty Ring Road in Kazakhstan, worth 900 billion won ($794 million).

“The key to success is maintaining a friendly network and sharing risks with the governments, multilateral development banks and construction companies.”

By Shin Ji-hye (shinjh@heraldcorp.com)