Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy

Trade, Industry and Energy Minister Dukgeun Ahn of the Republic of Korea and Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy of the Slovak Republic Denisa Saková signed a bilateral Trade and Investment Promotion Framework (TIPF) memorandum of understanding (MOU) today in Seoul in the presence of Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico on the margins of the Korea-Slovakia summit.

Slovakia is among Korea’s top 10 EU trade partners and home to roughly 140 Korean businesses, where active bilateral supply chain collaboration is ongoing in automobiles and home appliances. Their cooperation is extending to future-oriented industries as well, such as electronic vehicles (EVs) and clean energy.
 

Korea and Slovakia plan to leverage their TIPF to not only advance trade and investment but also expand their comprehensive cooperation base across various areas such as industry, energy, and supply chains through joint corporate project development, promotion of business and institutional exchanges, and removal of trade barriers.

The bilateral TIPF MOU sealed today follows those Korea previously inked with Poland, Hungary, and the Czech Republic, laying down the groundwork for wider economic cooperation with the Visegrád Group (V4). Korea’s trade volume with the V4 has continued to rise by an average of 15 percent every year through 2004–2023, reaching a historic USD 26.1 billion last year. 

With the existing Korea-V4 cooperation in automobiles and home appliances newly spreading to other areas like EV batteries, nuclear reactors, and defense, the complete Korea-V4 TIPF channel established on this occasion is anticipated to create fresh momentum for broadening the scope of Korea’s economic cooperation with the V4 countries.