CLOSER links between Kent and the Far East have been forged by a trade pact with South Korea.

The groundbreaking deal was signed at a ceremony in Chatham Maritime by Jim Brathwaite, chairman of the South East England Development Agency (SEEDA) and Dr Jung Joon Suk, chairman of the Korea Industrial Foundation (KOTEF).

It came just weeks after SEEDA’s promotion of a proposed Chinese investment in Manston, Thanet, that could lead to the creation of hundreds of jobs and an injection of around £100m.

The new memorandum of understanding with Korea aims to promote trade, investment, technology transfer and the sharing of best practice.

Mr Brathwaite said SEEDA was firmly committed to developing strategic linkages with Korea, and called for Britain to invest as much in engineering as the Koreans.

"We hope to increase two way flows of trade, investment and technology transfer between the UK and Korea especially in their field of Engineering," he said. "KOTEF are spending $250 million a year on developing engineering. We should do the same as a country."

South Korea is an important market for both South East companies doing business in the Far East, and as a source of inward investment.

More than 30 Korean companies are established in the South East including Samsung, Kia Motors, NC Soft and LG Electronics.

SEEDA is represented in Seoul, the South Korean capital, by Young Ho Seo, who is promoting international technology transfer.

The latest deal follows last year’s visits to the region by KOTEF representatives. They were shown the UK approach to regional development, business support, promotion of enterprise and innovation and the commercialisation of academic research.