The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE) announced on September 11 that MOTIE’s Deputy Minister for FTA Negotiations Roh Keon-ki is heading the Korean delegation in the fifth round of the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF) negotiations held from September 10-16 in Bangkok, Thailand.

Fourteen countries are participating in this round: Korea, the U.S., Japan, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Indonesia, India and Fiji. The Korean delegation led by Deputy Minister Roh consists of officials from over twenty of Korea’s government ministries.

IPEF member countries have made consistent effort over the last two months to obtain meaningful outcomes, following the fourth round of negotiations held in Busan. This fifth round will focus on narrowing down the issues of Pillar 1 (trade), Pillar 3 (clean economy) and Pillar 4 (fair economy), as well as the participating countries’ differences of opinion over core issues.

Deputy Minister Roh stated that long hours of negotiations, as well as participating countries’ willingness to exercise flexibility, are paying off in shaping and reaching the final agreement.