How to Promote Economic Cooperation with Resource-Abundant Andean Countries : Focus on Venezuela, Ecuador, and Bolivia

Due to the world’s rising energy demand and political instability in Middle East, the importance of resource-abundant countries in Latin America is being emphasized. This is especially true in the case of three Andean countries, Venezuela, Ecuador, and Bolivia, which remain to be a major challenge in terms of economic cooperation and as investment destination despite their rich resources and Korea’s large interest in different sectors. It is mainly due to Korea’s lack of understanding of the concerned countries and these countries’ less favorable investment climate compared to their neighbors. In this sense, this study suggests practical ways to enhance comprehensive economic cooperation between Korea and these countries and the suggestions are not limited to resource development cooperation. These include creating a friendly environment for Korean companies to encourage investment in the resource development sector of the region, as well as building a sustainable economic cooperation model. Also, additional emphasis is put in finding measures to minimize the risks of doing business in those countries