Martial Arts and Trade Specialized Private Think Tank 'Trade Support Center' Opens

The Korea International Trade Association opened the country's first trade-specialized think tank, the "Trade Support Center," on the 30th at the Trade Tower in Samseong-dong. At the opening ceremony, Kim Young-joo, chairman of the Trade Association, is delivering the opening address.

[Asia Economy Reporter So-yeon Park] On the 30th, the Korea International Trade Association (KITA) opened the country's first trade-specialized think tank, the "Trade Support Center," at the Trade Tower in Samseong-dong.

The Trade Support Center, as the nation's first trade-specialized think tank, will undertake roles such as researching trade issues, conducting domestic and international outreach, and providing trade consulting for individual companies.

At the opening ceremony, Chairman Kim Young-joo stated, "The vision of the Trade Support Center goes beyond reactive responses to past trade issues; it aims to establish a system for the prior prediction and prevention of trade risks." He added, "To enhance Korea's trade stature internationally, we will conduct joint research with international events and overseas think tanks. Domestically, we plan to accumulate and provide advanced trade information, conduct in-depth trade research such as analyzing World Trade Organization (WTO) dispute cases, and carry out various projects including education and consulting to improve the trade capabilities and expertise of the government and companies."

Attendees at the opening ceremony included KITA Chairman Kim Young-joo, Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy's Chief Trade Negotiator Yoo Myung-hee, Seoul National University Graduate School of International Studies Professor Lee Hye-min, and Park Tae-ho, Director of International Trade Research at the law firm Bae, Kim & Lee.

At the side event, the "2020 Discussion on the Path of Korean Trade" forum featured presentations and discussions by trade experts on topics such as the evaluation and future outlook of the US-China Phase One Agreement, Korea's role amid the weakening of WTO functions, digital trade, and responses by Korean companies. About 150 participants from the trade industry, government, and academia attended the forum, showing great interest in the future of the global trade environment.

Professor Lee Hye-min, who delivered the keynote speech, emphasized, "The US-China conflict is expected to continue amid the US's unilateral protectionism and China's state capitalism." She added, "In addition, we must actively respond to changes in the international trade environment, including digital trade, revisions to the WTO subsidy agreement, and the need to reconsider export strategies for our companies due to Brexit."

Professor Ahn Deok-geun of Seoul National University stressed, "Korea should actively participate in WTO reform discussions led by the trilateral coalition of the US, European Union, and Japan." Jeon Byung-so, Director of the China Economy and Finance Research Institute, stated, "The recent US-China Phase One Agreement is merely a temporary compromise reflecting aligned political interests." He argued, "As the next conflicts are expected to be technology and financial wars following the trade war, we must closely monitor changes in China's investment environment and seek new business models to maintain the technological gap with Chinese companies."

Shin Seung-kwan, Executive Director of KITA and head of the center, said, "The Trade Support Center will provide close support services to help the trade industry establish trade strategies at the individual company level amid the complex and multifaceted trade environment."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.