Minister for Trade Dukgeun Ahn presided the third Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF) public-private joint strategy meeting on March 6 at the Korean Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) held by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE) to discuss future directions and share IPEF negotiation progress with economic groups, various committees and R&D institutes.

The first official round of IPEF negotiations were launched in December 2022 in Australia, and current talks are focused on drawing up the agreement document on the four pillars: trade, supply chain, clean economy and fair economy. In preparation for the upcoming second round of negotiations in Indonesia (March 13-19), Committee members exchanged a wide range of opinions with economic group and industry experts.

Trade Minister Ahn remarked that “negotiations are addressing issues like supply chain disruption response, clean economy transition and other agendas of interest in the Indo-Pacific region,” and emphasized the importance of “not only the role of the Government, but civil participation as well.”

Attendees drew attention to the need for a cooperation system for diversification and stabilization of the supply chain and transition into digital and clean energy. They requested that non-tariff barriers be lowered to increase opportunities in entering the Indo-Pacific region, and that negotiations be led in a direction that ensures domestic firms to secure sufficient gains from IPEF.

Before and after each round of negotiations, MOTIE has been gathering opinions from experts and interested parties through each working group per pillar.

MOTIE aims to maximize Korea’s national interest through active communication while continuing to contribute to the Indo-Pacific region development.