Trade Minister Ahn Duk-geun met with officials of major economic and industry associations Wednesday to discuss latest developments regarding the US-led Indo-Pacific Economic Framework and the future path of its negotiations, his office said.
Ahn explained to the participants the result of the IPEF ministerial meeting held last week in Detroit, where its 14 member nations reached an agreement on supply chain resilience, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.
Supply chain resilience is one of four key pillars of the framework, and it was the first time for the member nations to agree upon specific measures since US President Joe Biden launched the platform in May 2022 in a move to counter China's growing influence in the region.
Ahn also briefed the participants on ongoing negotiations on the three remaining fields of trade, clean economy and fair economy, and exchanged opinions about South Korea's stance on the future path and policy measures to maximize benefits for domestic companies.
"The deal on supply chains lays the foundation for joint responses to any global supply chain disruptions among the member nations. The government will strive for making tangible results in the other sectors so as to provide our companies with stable business circumstances," Ahn said.
The fourth round of official negotiations is scheduled to take place in South Korea's southern port city of Busan in the second half of this year.
The 14 member nations includes South Korea, the US, Australia, India, Indonesia, Japan, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam, and they represent 40 percent of global gross domestic product and 28 percent of global goods and services trade, according to government data.
As of 2021, trade volume between South Korea and the remaining 13 IPEF member nations had come to $498.4 billion, accounting for 39.6 percent of Seoul's total trade that year. (Yonhap)
