A delegation of South Korean content companies visited the Philippine capital last week to research investment opportunities there.

The Feb. 4-7 trip to Manila was organized by the ASEAN-Korea Center in Seoul as part of the follow-up to last year’s summit in Busan between Korea and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

“The Philippines is not only an attractive content market with a high demand for the Korean Wave, but also a promising outsourcing partner with an immense technical manpower. I hope this delegation contributes to solidifying the mutually beneficial relationship between the contents industries of Korea and the Philippines,” said Lee Hyuk, Secretary General of the ASEAN-Korea Center. The center is an intergovernmental organization that promotes economic and socio-cultural cooperation between ASEAN member countries and Korea.

The Philippines has ambitions of becoming a leader in the cultural content industry in the ASEAN region by 2030, under its creative economy road map.

The Korean delegation consisted of representatives from a total of 18 companies in fields such as animation, gaming and webtoons. They attended the Philippine-Korea Creative Industry Cooperation Forum, held one-on-one business meetings and toured relevant companies and associations.

Government officials and some 70 leading Philippine creative content companies introduced development policies and discussed investment opportunities in business meetings with the Korean delegation at the Philippine-Korea Creative Industry Cooperation Forum.

The Korea Animation Producers Association and the Animation Council of the Philippines inked a memorandum of understanding that is to serve as an institutional base for collaborative measures in the industry.

By Kim Bo-gyung (lisakim425@heraldcorp.com)