Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy

12th Korea-Denmark Green Growth Alliance

Trade, Industry and Energy Minister Dukgeun Ahn met Lars Aagaard, Danish Minister of Climate, Energy and Utilities, in Seoul for the 12th Korea-Denmark Green Growth Alliance (GGA) to discuss bilateral cooperation in offshore wind and hydrogen energy and entered a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on new energy industrial cooperation. date2024-03-11

Minister meets Arkansas Governor

Trade, Industry and Energy Minister Dukgeun Ahn met with Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders on March 11 in Seoul to discuss measures for cooperation in critical minerals and trade between Korea and the State of Arkansas. date2024-03-11

Vice Minister meets UK's Permanent Secretary for the Department of Energy Security and Net Zero

Trade, Industry, and Energy Vice Minister Namho Choe met with the UK's Jeremy Pocklington, Permanent Secretary for the Department of Energy Security and Net Zero, on March 8th in Seoul for the UK-ROK Clean Energy High-Level meeting and held discussions on measures for cooperation in critical minerals, offshore wind power, and clean hydrogen. date2024-03-08

Korea and Denmark hold 12th bilateral Green Growth Alliance to discuss clean energy cooperation

On Friday, 8 March, Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy, Dukgeun Ahn, and Danish Minister of Climate, Energy and Utilities, Lars Aagaard, met in Seoul for the 12th Korea-Denmark Green Growth Alliance (GGA) to engage in constructive discussions on bilateral clean energy cooperation.  Since its inception in 2011, the Green Growth Alliance (GGA) has been a platform to foster bilateral cooperation in sectors including green industry, shipping, and finance through annual ministerial meetings. This year's Green Growth Alliance meeting was centered on discussing clean energy cooperation, with a keen focus on offshore wind and hydrogen. Minister Ahn highlighted Korea's commitment to promoting carbon neutrality by emphasizing the need to mobilize all available carbon-free energy (CFE) sources. Moreover, he expressed his eagerness to collaborate with Denmark, a country renowned for its expertise in carbon neutrality implementation, to raise awareness about the importance of expanding the deployment of carbon-free energy. Both ministers also agreed to expand cooperation in offshore wind power by combining Denmark's extensive expertise in power generation and Korea's strong manufacturing capabilities. In addition, they committed to sharing their relevant experiences, including policy responses to the issue of public acceptance, in an effort to promote offshore wind as a viable pathway towards achieving carbon neutrality. The two countries agreed to expand industrial and technological cooperation on a private level in the hydrogen sector and work together to build a stable and economical global hydrogen supply chain. Denmark, renowned for its advanced wind power technology, is a future green hydrogen producer, and it is envisaged that bilateral cooperation in this field will facilitate the exchange of ideas and expertise and foster a fruitful partnership between the two nations. Furthermore, the two countries renewed the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on cooperation in the clean energy and new energy industry to include more areas of cooperation. To this end, both Ministers agreed to strengthen collaboration in hydrogen and energy efficiency. During the Danish minister's visit, the two countries also held the Korean-Denmark Hydrogen R&D Symposium and the Korea-Denmark Offshore Wind Business Conference, in an effort to expand public and private cooperation in key clean energy sectors like hydrogen and offshore wind. date2024-03-08

The UK-ROK Clean Energy High-Level Meeting

The UK-ROK Clean Energy High-Level Meeting              The UK-ROK Clean Energy High-Level meeting took place on March 8th in Seoul, with Namho Choe, Vice Minister of Trade, Industry, and Energy (MOTIE), and Jeremy Pocklington, Permanent Secretary for the Department of Energy Security and Net Zero, leading the discussion. This meeting is a deliverable to the Clean Energy Partnership signed during President Yoon suk-yeol’s State Visit to London in late November last year, meeting with Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to discuss our shared priorities. It marks a significant step towards a "global strategic partnership" to advance our respective efforts and common goals to address energy security and the climate crisis.              Vice Minister Choe and Permanent Secretary Pocklington have highlighted the immense potential of bilateral cooperation to accelerate the global transition to net zero, with a strong emphasis on clean energy. This collaboration is crucial in light of the recent geopolitical conflicts and the climate crisis, which have disrupted the energy supply chain and created an urgent need for sustainable solutions. To this end, both countries have agreed to actively use the UK-ROK Nuclear Energy Industry dialogue, establish a Critical Minerals Working Group, continue the Offshore Wind Industry Dialogue, expand cooperation in clean hydrogen and energy technology development, and further cooperation in the field of carbon-free energy to further decarbonization efforts in the industrial and power generation sectors. The UK and ROK discussed collaboration in the G20 and the need to agree on a delivery plan to implement the COP28 Global Stocktake commitments to transition away from fossil fuels and accelerate the clean energy transition.              “Korea boasts commendable expertise in the field of clean energy manufacturing, and we are eager to work together towards advancing our respective industries and promoting clean energy worldwide,” said Vice Minister Choe. “The UK-ROK Clean Energy High-Level meeting marks an important milestone towards the establishment of a global strategic partnership, as agreed upon in the Downing Street Accord. These collaborative efforts will also position both nations as significant players in the global response to carbon neutrality and energy security.”            “The 2023 State Visit of President Yoon Suk-yeol was a landmark moment for UK-ROK collaboration”, said Permanent Secretary Jeremy Pocklington.  “Cooperation to tackle the climate crisis and to enhance energy security is to the fore of our global strategic partnership.  During the UK-RoK Clean Energy High-Level meeting, I was pleased to agree further cooperation, accelerating joint efforts on nuclear, offshore wind, critical minerals and a number of other sectors. This demonstrates our shared determination to deliver the COP28 outcomes on transitioning away from fossil fuels, tripling nuclear energy capacity and tripling renewables capacity globally by 2030.”said Permanent Secretary Jeremy Pocklington. date2024-03-08

Korea and Sweden discuss cooperation in advanced industries and digital economy

Director General for International Trade Policy Yoon Chang-hyun at the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE) met with Maria Rosander, Director General at Sweden’s Ministry of Climate and Enterprise and Secretariat for the European Union (EU) and International Affairs, on March 7 via teleconferencing to hold the second Korea-Sweden Industrial Cooperation Committee meeting to discuss policies in advanced industries like nuclear energy and bio, as well as regulatory reform and bilateral cooperation measures.   The two sides discussed measures for cooperation in bio, nuclear energy, and digital economy, and Director General Yoon shared the system and management know-how of Korea’s regulatory sandbox.   They also agreed to expand and develop the memorandum of understanding (MOU) for Korea-Sweden Industrial Cooperation, which expires this June, to one on the Korea-Sweden Trade and Investment Promotion Framework (TIPF), which will encompass not only industries but also new trade issues in investment, supply chain, digital and carbon-free energy.   Furthermore, both sides highly assessed the Korea-Sweden Digital Economy and Trade Forum, now in its fourth year since launched in 2020, and decided that this year’s forum is to be held in Korea.   Noting that Korea and Sweden both are manufacturing powerhouses that place emphasis on innovative technology and R&D, Director General Yoon stated that efforts will continue to create synergy between Sweden’s high value-added industries and Korea’s manufacturing competitiveness. date2024-03-07

MOTIE rolls out Foreign Investment Stimulation Program 2024 to nurture global innovation hub

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE) held the 114th Foreign Investment Committee meeting for deliberation and resolution on the basic directions and programs for stimulating foreign investment in 2024 and received a briefing in writing on the annual report on grievance settlements for improving the investment environment from the Foreign Investment Ombudsman.   In the foreign investment stimulation program for 2024, MOTIE proposes stronger foreign direct investment (FDI) attraction measures for nurturing a global innovation hub. Detailed project tasks, including strategic FDI attraction, stronger foreign investor support and improvement of investment environment.   Accordingly, MOTIE plans to select 100 key companies for pursuing either high-level communication or scaled-down, close-up efforts to attract foreign investment for strengthening the supply chain and securing advanced technologies. Moreover, to increase investment of key companies in advanced industries, MOTIE intends to sharply raise the budget for cash grants from KRW 50 billion in 2023 to 200 billion won in 2024, and launch an R&D project exclusively for foreign-invested companies to invigorate global firms’ R&D investment in Korea.   Foreign Investment Ombudsman Kim Sung-jin reported a total of 406 cases of grievance settlements in 2023, including 18 cases of system improvement. The Foreign Investment Ombudsman system was introduced in 1999 to handle issues related to foreign-invested companies, and the number of grievance settlement cases in 2023 has increased 4.9 percent year-on-year.   MOTIE plans to push forward the foreign investment stimulation program for 2024, while also fostering a more attractive investment environment for foreign-invested companies based on various efforts, including the Foreign Investment Ombudsman’s proactive handling of grievances. date2024-03-06

Trade Minister holds conference with GCC's ambassadors to Korea

Minister for Trade Inkyo Cheong chaired a conference with ambassadors of GCC to Korea on March 5 at the Four Seasons Hotel Seoul to discuss measures to expand economic cooperation on the momentum of the Korea-GCC FTA concluded last year. date2024-03-06

Korea launches Middle East Future Partnership Delegation 2024

The “Middle East Future Partnership Delegation 2024”, formed by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE), is visiting Dubai in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) from March 6-7 as part of the Korean government’s all-time high USD 700 billion export target project launched for 2024, for which trade delegations are to be sent to 10 promising markets for strategic market expansion.   As opposed to the existing local government-led trade delegation and private-led economic delegation, this delegation will support Korean companies’ efforts to strike contract deals in conjunction with summit diplomacy, economic cooperation and local large-scale exhibitions concentrating on the selected promising markets and items in line with the central Government’s strategic policy direction based on the four major megatrends, namely supply chain alignment, carbon neutrality, digital and demographic changes.   The Middle East is one of the selected promising markets with ongoing infrastructure investment in a variety of areas like petrochemicals, new renewables and road traffic in accordance with the recent push for industrial transformation. Korea’s exports to the Middle East took up approximately three percent in terms of proportion as of 2023, but exports to the region showed rapid growth (up 7.3 percent year-on-year) despite difficult global conditions. President Yoon Suk Yeol’s state visit to UAE and the Korea-UAE Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (October) and Korea-GCC Free Trade Agreement (FTA) were all realized last year, spurring the “New Middle East Boom” and boosting the number of Korean companies hoping to enter the Middle Eastern market.   The Middle East Future Partnership Delegation has incorporated a number of tech export businesses owning core technologies in future industries for technology collaboration with the Middle East. Twenty-two Korean tech companies specializing in traffic control systems, green hydrogen, robots, internet of things (IoT) and digital solutions are participating in the delegation. From the Middle East, major investment groups like the Kanoo Group and client companies of key infrastructure projects, including the Roads & Transport Authority and Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA), will be engaging in consultations for export and investment deals over the two-day period.   Recently, major countries in the Middle East have made announcements for mega-scale infrastructure project plans, including Saudi Arabia’s NEOM, UAE’s Al Ajban Solar PV and Kuwait’s South Saad Al-Abdullah Smart City project, signaling their focus on IoT, clean energy and future technology cooperation. The delegation visit is anticipated to create new synergies between Korean companies with manufacturing and R&D competitiveness and Middle Eastern business leaders serving as chief mediators for the Middle East and Africa.   MOTIE’s Minister Dukgeun Ahn stated that Korea’s exports have posted growth for the fifth consecutive month in February despite the Seollal holidays and increased the prospects of hitting this year’s $700 billion export target, highlighting that “The Middle East Future Partnership Delegation will catalyze the economic cooperation outcomes from the recent summit diplomacy, Korea-UAE CEPA and the Korea-GCC FTA to solidify the rising momentum for export growth.” He added that “Starting with the Middle East, the Government plans to send delegations to 10 promising markets to preemptively uncover and enlarge export opportunities in line with new market trends.” date2024-03-06

Minister meets India’s External Affairs Minister

Trade, Industry and Energy Minister Dukgeun Ahn met with India’s External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar on March 5 at Lotte Hotel Seoul to discuss measures for expanding comprehensive economic cooperation between the two countries. date2024-03-06