Minister for Trade Dukgeun Ahn attended the 16th Trade Advisory Committee meeting on January 11 in Seoul and held public-private joint discussions on the future global trade landscape and Korea’s response measures.
Trade Minister Ahn remarked that Korea, an exports-based open economy, will continue to face challenges amid the worldwide rise in protectionism. He emphasized the need for a trade policy that centers on pioneering new markets and preemptively nurtures advantageous trade environment conditions to domestic industries, and laid out the following trade policy vision for the future.
1)Diversify markets and supply chain based on global solidarity
This involves actively entering new markets by utilizing multiple trade systems. Via the Trade and Investment Promotion Framework (TIPF), new trade partnerships will be forged with countries, with which Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) are relatively difficult and require more strategic forms of collaboration. The aim is to enter TIPF with over 20 countries in 2023.
The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE) intends to shift gears in FTAs, from the previous open market-centric scheme towards Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) for supply chain and new trade area cooperation. The goal is to enter new FTAs with over 10 countries in 2023, so as to establish a mutually beneficial trade network with countries abundant in resources and population.
It entails reinforcing information collection and analysis capacity to enable swift response to major countries’ policy changes, as well as strengthening communication between Korean exporting companies and those in overseas markets.
MOTIE will bolster cooperation with resource-rich and technologically advanced countries to stabilize the critical minerals and raw materials supply chain in the long term, capitalizing on opportunities like summit diplomacy, high-level exchanges and MOUs.
2)Take the lead in shaping trade rules per each major economic bloc
With regard to the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF), MOTIE will engage in negotiations with aim to produce meaningful outcomes so that Korea can actively engage in the rapidly developing Indo-Pacific region and its vast market of 13 nations.
For the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), MOTIE will continuously communicate with relevant ministries, domestic industries and interested parties in fostering the conditions for Korea’s CPTPP membership accession. Furthermore, the secretariat for the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) will be established for its greater utilization.
MOTIE also seeks to contribute to the WTO reform by participating in investment facilitation talks and making efforts to restore the dispute settlement system.
Concerning digital trade, MOTIE will seek to expand Korea’s digital trade network by successfully negotiating its Digital Economy Partnership Agreement (DEPA) member accession as early as during the first quarter of 2023.
In addition, utilizing the WTO and Trade and Environmental Sustainability Structured Discussions (TESSD) will be a viable means of promoting green trade for Korea’s green companies in expanding overseas markets.
3)Be the global hub for investment, technology and skilled labor
MOTIE will build a global industrial environment that draws foreign investment, technology and labor for high-tech businesses.
Foreign investment laws will be modified to increase cash grants for investment in process replacements for high-tech strategic technologies and industry transitions.
MOTIE will strengthen Korea’s networking with global committees, groups and universities’ industry-academia organizations to increase people-to-people exchange across high-tech sectors.
Joint R&D projects in high-tech areas will gain strong momentum, including international collaboration in future cars and clean energy.
Also, MOTIE will work together with foreign-invested companies, the Foreign Investment Ombudsman and other countries’ Chambers of Commerce in Korea to tackle investment-related regulatory reform tasks and gather international efforts for regulatory innovation.
To enhance domestic and overseas regulatory consistency, MOTIE will consider the domestic introduction of services which are widely used overseas but have yet to be launched in Korea. Efforts will be made to mitigate regulatory burdens on Korean companies in overseas markets through international cooperation.
Source: Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy