Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy

Korea and Philippines hold 3rd Joint Commission for Trade and Economic Cooperation meeting

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE) of the Republic of Korea held the Korea-Philippines Joint Commission for Trade and Economic Cooperation (“Commission”) meeting via videoconference with the Philippines’ Department of Trade and Industry on September 12 to discuss the Korea-Philippines Free Trade Agreement (FTA) and measures for cooperation in areas like shipbuilding and eco-friendly vehicles.   The first ASEAN country with which Korea established diplomatic relations, the Philippines is currently home to approximately 300 Korean firms that are locally operating on the islands and contributing to bilateral economic cooperation.   Convened after a two-year hiatus, the Commission meeting was led by Korea’s Deputy Minister for Trade Yang Byeong-nae and the Philippines’ Assistant Secretary for Industry Development and Trade Policy Allan B. Gepty as Chief Delegates heading their respective delegations. The Chief Delegates assessed the Korea-Philippines FTA (signed in September 2023) as a major milestone in bilateral efforts to expand economic cooperation and agreed to take steps for the Agreement’s swift entry into force. Moreover, the two sides shared the progress on their agendas under the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF), for which they have engaged in cooperation since its initial launch, and concurred on making joint effort to produce tangible outcomes.   By leveraging the Philippines’ archipelagic advantage and Korea’s shipbuilding competitiveness, the two sides are aiming to seek collaboration prospects across various areas such as offshore wind power and ship maintenance, as well as expanding cooperation in eco-friendly vehicles including the development of electric buses to run in the Philippines.   Next, the Korean delegation shared its energy policy directions and introduced Korea’s Carbon Free Energy (CFE) Initiative and other climate change response endeavors, to which the Philippines expressed hope for future collaboration in energy security, carbon reduction, and various related areas. They also agreed to launch working-level talks on measures to strengthen cooperation in critical raw materials. date2024-09-12

Korea and Mongolia launch 3rd official negotiating round for bilateral EPA

Korea’s Director General for FTA Negotiations Peob-min Ryu is leading the government delegation in the third round of official negotiations for the Korea-Mongolia Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) through September 10–13 in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. The Mongolian delegation is headed by State Secretary for the Ministry of Economy and Development Batkhuu Idesh.   Director General Ryu gave opening remarks and engaged in negotiations on goods, rules of origin, services, investment, digital, finance, government procurement, and intellectual property. date2024-09-11

Korea and ASEAN discuss cooperation at Indo-Pacific Policy Forum

Minister for Trade Inkyo Cheong held the Indo-Pacific Policy Forum (“Forum”) today in Seoul and facilitated discussions on economic cooperation with ASEAN, Korea’s major economic partner and core region of the Global South. Meanwhile, forecasted outcomes of the Korea-ASEAN Economic Ministers’ Meeting slated for September 21–22 in Vientiane, Laos, were also reviewed, including upgrading the Korea-ASEAN Free Trade Agreement (FTA) and the Korea-ASEAN trade and economic policy cooperation. As part of follow-up measures to the Trade Policy Roadmap announced in August, the Forum was attended by a number of ASEAN experts including those from the Korea University ASEAN Center (KUAC) and the Korea Institute for International Economic Policy (KIEP). They exchanged views on issues concerning Korea’s measures for responding to the realignment of the ASEAN supply chain as per the U.S.-China competition, as well as Vietnam’s legislation of key industrial laws and their implications. In his opening message, Trade Minister Cheong stated that ASEAN, based on its world’s third largest population and fifth largest economy, is expanding its position as the new growth engine for global manufacturing and strategic counterweight in global politics and diplomacy. He shared plans to utilize the Korea-ASEAN FTA, Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) and such multilevel networks to increase joint efforts on new trade issues like digital transition and climate change, in addition to existing areas of cooperation like trade and investment.   date2024-09-06

Trade Minister meets ASEAN Deputy Secretary General

Minister for Trade Inkyo Cheong met Deputy Secretary General for ASEAN Economic Community Satvinder Singh on September 4 at the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) in Seoul and discussed measures for bilateral economic cooperation. date2024-09-06

Trade Minister Cheong and ASEAN Deputy Secretary General discuss bilateral economic cooperation

Minister for Trade Inkyo Cheong met Deputy Secretary General for ASEAN Economic Community Satvinder Singh on September 4 at the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) in Seoul, where he introduced Korea’s pan-ministerial Trade Policy Roadmap (“Roadmap”) and discussed measures for bilateral economic cooperation. Deputy Secretary General Singh held high regard for the Roadmap’s emphasis on the Korea-ASEAN Solidarity Initiative (KASI) and on wider cooperation with the Global South as proposed measures to expand the Korea-ASEAN economic cooperation. He also expressed hopes for tangible outcomes from the ongoing Korea-ASEAN joint projects, such as those for official development assistance (ODA), standards cooperation, and electrical safety management. In commemoration of this year marking the 35th anniversary of the establishment of the Korea-ASEAN dialogue relations, Trade Minister Cheong shared that efforts will continue to advance their comprehensive cooperation across economy, society, and culture, while trade policies will concentrate on expanding and strengthening concrete cooperation with ASEAN, a key region of the Global South. The bilateral talks were held with the objective of reviewing outcomes of the existing Korea-ASEAN economic cooperation and future directions in preparation for the Korea-ASEAN Economic Ministers’ Meeting slated for this September in Vientiane, Laos.   date2024-09-05

Korea-Australia FTA 10th Anniversary Ceremony

Minister for Trade Inkyo Cheong attended the 10th Anniversary Commemoration Ceremony of the Korea-Australia FTA on September 3 in Perth with Australia’s Trade and Tourism Minister Don Farrell, Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government Catherine King and other relevant representatives and gave a congratulatory message and took part in the cake cutting ceremony. date2024-09-03

Trade Minister meets Australia’s Minister for Resources

Minister for Trade Inkyo Cheong met with Australia’s Minister for Resources and Minister for Northern Australia Madeleine King on September 1 in Perth on the margins of the 6th Korea-Australia FTA Joint Committee meeting held in commemoration of this year marking the 10th anniversary of the Korea-Australia FTA’s entry into force, and discussed mutually beneficial cooperation concerning liquefied natural gas (LNG), critical minerals, and carbon capture and storage (CCS) and also asked for support towards Korean firms investing in the Australian market. date2024-09-02

Korea and Australia bolster clean energy cooperation commemorating 10th anniversary of bilateral FTA’s entry into force

In commemoration of this year marking the 10th anniversary of the Korea-Australia Free Trade Agreement (FTA)’s entry into force, Minister for Trade Inkyo Cheong is visiting Perth through September 1–3 to attend the sixth Korea-Australia FTA Joint Committee meeting and sign the memorandum of understanding (MOU) between the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE) and the Government of Western Australia on clean energy cooperation. He also engaged in a business exchange between the two countries for enhancing cooperation in critical minerals and clean energy. First, Trade Minister Cheong and Australia’s Trade and Tourism Minister Don Farrell held the sixth Korea-Australia FTA Joint Committee meeting to assess how their FTA has strengthened bilateral trade and economic cooperation and discussed both sides’ issues regarding the FTA implementation of the trade of goods and services, as well as investment.  This was followed by the Korea-Australia Annual Trade Ministers’ Meeting, where the two trade chiefs discussed measures to deepen both bilateral and multilateral economic cooperation in energy, carbon neutrality, critical minerals supply chain, the World Trade Organization (WTO), and Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC).  During talks with Australia’s Minister for Resources and Minister for Northern Australia Madeleine King, Trade Minister Cheong discussed mutually beneficial cooperation concerning liquefied natural gas (LNG), critical minerals, and carbon capture and storage (CCS). He also asked for support towards Korean firms investing in the Australian market. Meanwhile, the Korean trade leader and Western Australia Premier Roger Cook signed a MOTIE-Western Australia MOU on the development and processing of clean energy. Western Australia is rich in critical minerals and has vast potential for clean hydrogen and ammonia production, leading to anticipation that the MOU will advance bilateral energy collaboration in various areas including critical minerals, hydrogen, CCS, and renewables. At the 45th Korea-Australia Economic Cooperation Committee (ECCC) meeting held to promote private sector business exchange, Trade Minister Cheong highlighted the importance of forward-looking cooperation in supply chains, clean economy, digital, and defense in order to upgrade the two countries’ cooperation amid recent global uncertainties. He ensured that the Korean government will closely support efforts to foster a more stable trade and investment environment for both countries’ businesses.   date2024-09-02

Korea and Malaysia launch 4th official negotiating round for bilateral FTA

Director General for FTA Negotiations Peob-min Ryu and Malaysia’s Senior Director for Strategic Negotiations at the Ministry of Investment, Trade and Industry (MITI) Sumathi Balakrishnan are heading their respective delegations in the fourth official round of negotiations for the Korea-Malaysia Free Trade Agreement (FTA) through August 20–23 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. This fourth negotiating round is the two countries’ first official round in five years since the previous negotiations held in September 2019. On top of the ongoing negotiations for their working group on trade in goods, the two sides will be adding working groups on services, investment, digital, green, and bio with aim to facilitate a comprehensive FTA that encompasses the opening of markets and new trade rules. As Korea’s third and fourth largest ASEAN partner in terms of trade and investment, respectively, Malaysia is a resource-rich supplier of natural gas and petroleum products, while Korea exports petroleum products, semiconductors, and fine chemical materials to the Southeast Asian nation. In view of their complementary trade structure, the inking of a bilateral FTA is anticipated to bolster Korea’s trade and investment base across the ASEAN region.   date2024-08-20

Minister Ahn holds videoconference with UK Secretary of State for Business and Trade

Trade, Industry and Energy Minister Dukgeun Ahn held a videoconference with the UK’s new Secretary of State for Business and Trade Jonathan Reynolds on August 14 and discussed measures to make progress on negotiations for upgrading the Korea-UK FTA. date2024-08-16