Trade Minister attends APEC trade ministerial meeting

Minister for Trade Dukgeun Ahn attended the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) trade ministerial meeting on May 25-26 in Detroit, U.S as head of the Korean government delegation.

Held annually to foster discussions on Asia-Pacific trade and investment issues, this year's meeting was chaired by the U.S. Representative Katherine Tai and dealt with issues of strengthening the multilateral trading system and the role of trade for sustainable and inclusive growth.

In Session One on May 25, Trade Minister Ahn emphasized the urgency of a multilateral trading system centering on the World Trade Organization (WTO) amidst the rapidly changing trade environment in terms of accelerating realignment of major countries' supply chain and rising protectionism, and shared the Korean government's key policies and directions for international cooperation to contribute to the above aim.

In Session Two on the following day, the trade chief shared trade policies being pushed to respond to issues like climate change, digital economy and the stable management of an industrial and energy supply chain. He emphasized that APEC should play a chief role in international cooperation to minimize the negative impact from measures that seek to enhance transparency and predictability of supply chain and climate change response.

He held bilateral talks on the sidelines of the APEC meeting with member states' trade leaders to discuss cooperation measures regarding mutual issues in industry, trade and energy.

On May 27, 14 trade ministers attended the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF) ministerial meeting where they assessed their past one year since the launching of the Framework and discussed future directions.

Trade Minister Ahn requested concerted efforts of participating nations on the four Pillars to swiftly reach tangible outcomes.