Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy

Minister for Trade Inkyo Cheong met with Wamkele Mene, Secretary General of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), on April 24 in Korea on the occasion of the upcoming Korea-Africa Summit (June 2024) and exchanged views on expanding trade between Korea and African countries.

 

Noting the global rise of protectionism, Trade Minister Cheong highly assessed African countries’ efforts to achieve growth based on intraregional free trade and through the launch of AfCFTA (January 2021), assuring Korea’s strong support in the process.

 

Moreover, he warmly welcomed Secretary General Mene’s planned participation in the Korea-Africa Summit 2024, an event for establishing mutually beneficial, sustainable, and long-term cooperative ties between Korea and Africa. The trade chief also asked for interest and support towards the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) underway on the margins of the Summit among Korea and three African countries, namely Morocco, Kenya, and Tanzania.

 

Meanwhile, MOTIE plans to hold a business summit on the occasion of the bilateral Summit in June with joint organization by five major economic groups, led by the Korea International Trade Association (KITA). On the sidelines, Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA) will hold a business partnership event for bolstering economic cooperation and creating opportunities for tangible business outcomes between Korea and African countries.