Minister for Trade Dukgeun Ahn held bilateral talks with the trade leaders of five countries on the sidelines of the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF) ministerial meetings and Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit, held through November 12-16 in San Francisco, to discuss trade issues. He also asked other countries’ support for World Expo 2030 Busan and their participation in the Carbon Free (CF) Alliance.

Trade Minister Ahn first met with Katherine Tai, the U.S. Trade Representative, and discussed the progress and future direction of the IPEF negotiations, reaffirming the two countries’ cooperation on advancing the outcomes of Pillar I.

He also met with Piyush Goyal, India’s Minister of Commerce and Industry, and held talks on improving the Korea-India Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) and measures for stronger economic cooperation, as well as ways to improve the exports and investment environment.

The trade chief held bilateral talks with Australia’s Trade and Tourism Minister Don Farrell, New Zealand’s Trade and Export Growth Minister Damien O'Connor, and Thailand’s Deputy Commerce Minister Napintorn Srisunpang, respectively, to discuss measures for a wider scope of cooperation under the multilateral system, including the World Trade Organization reform, and built consensus on the need for trade promotion.

Trade Minister Ahn also listened to the voices of corporate leaders on major trade issues. He met with Jake Colvin, President of the U.S.' National Foreign Trade Council (NFTC), to discuss measures for stronger cooperation between Korea and U.S. companies, and also with Antony Cook, Microsoft's Regional Vice President and Chief Legal Counsel for Corporate, External and Legal Affairs (CELA) for Asia, to discuss global trends in digital trade and measures for technology collaboration in artificial intelligence (AI).