President Moon Jae-in on Wednesday attended a business forum in Budapest where businesspeople from South Korea and the Visegrad Group, or the V4, discussed ways to cooperate in new industries. 

The V4 is a cultural and political alliance of four countries in Central Europe established in 1991. It comprises Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungary and Slovakia. 

Moon said the V4 has become South Korea’s largest investment destination in the European Union, citing that Seoul has injected more than ten billion dollars into the group. He also noted that more than 600 South Korean firms have advanced into V4 countries.  

The president said South Korea, equipped with high-tech industries, hopes to achieve joint growth with the V4, which he described as the most dynamic group in Europe and having a superior workforce and geographic advantage linking east and west Europe.  

Moon said he hopes South Korea and the V4 will grow beyond Europe as he underlined the importance of cooperation in electric vehicle batteries, new industries in the post-COVID-19 era and infrastructure.