Seoul, Sept. 8 (CNA) Taiwan's deputy culture minister expressed hope in an annual joint economic conference with South Korea in Seoul Friday that exchanges and cooperation in the cultural and creative sectors between the two countries can be boosted.

Yang Tzu-pao spelled out the wish during the 42nd Joint Conference between the ROC-Korea Business Council and the Korea-Taiwan Business Council, which took place on Yeoui Island, Seoul's main financial and investment banking district.

The official praised the success of South Korea's television drama and movie industry, which he said has created global popularity of South Korean culture, dubbed "Korean Wave."

Riding this wave, South Korea is promoting at full strength its tourism, culture, cosmetics and food, Yang said, praising the country's marketing strategies and government measures to help the growth of the relevant industries as something from which Taiwan should learn.

Friday's event was jointly organized by the Taipei-based Chinese International Economic Cooperation Association (CIECA) and its South Korean counterpart, the Federation of Korean Industries (FKI).

The Taiwan delegation is headed by Chuang Suo-han, chief of the CIECA's Korean Committee and vice chairman of the Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA).

The delegation, which flew to Seoul on Wednesday for the conference and a four-day visit, is made up of over 30 representatives of businesses in areas ranging from energy resources, logistics, food production, cultural and creative travel, biotechnology, steel, computer games and banking.

According to TAITRA, the participants in the conference engaged in discussion and exchanged opinions on issues concerning the logistics, culture and travel, energy resources and bio-medicine industries in the hope of exploring business opportunities in those sectors.

Taiwan suffered a trade deficit of US$453 million against South Korea in the first half of this year, TAITRA said, therefore one of its key tasks this year is to reinforce trade and economic exchanges with the neighboring country.

TAITRA is a government-sponsored organization devoted to the promotion of Taiwan's foreign trade.

In 2016, Taiwan-South Korea bilateral trade reached US$27.44 billion, up 7.22 percent from the previous year, making South Korea Taiwan's fifth-largest trade partner, TAITRA data indicates.

CIECA and FKI began in 1967 organizing the Taiwan-Korea economic meeting alternately in Taipei and Seoul on an annual basis, using the meeting as a communication channel between Taiwanese and South Korean enterprises.

The annual meetings were suspended in 1992, when diplomatic relations between the two countries were severed, and were not resumed until 2000.