Mikta Five Countries Hold Director-General Level Video Conference on COVID-19 Response

"Essential Cross-Border Movement of Medical Professionals and Businesspeople Should Be Considered as an Exception"

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] The Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced on the afternoon of the 16th that a Senior Officials Meeting (SOM) among the five MIKTA countries was held via video conference, chaired by Ham Sang-wook, Director-General for Multilateral Diplomacy Coordination.

This Senior Officials Meeting, held at the proposal of Korea as the chair country of MIKTA this year, was attended by representatives of senior officials from MIKTA member countries including Mexico, Indonesia, Turkey, and Australia. From Mexico, Damian Martinez, Director of Policy Planning at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, attended; from Indonesia, Febrian Ruddyard, Director of Multilateral Cooperation at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs; from Turkey, Omer Kuyucuk, Director of Multilateral Economic Affairs at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs; and from Australia, Justin Lee, Director of Multilateral Policy at the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade participated.

The participants shared their countries’ experiences in responding to the global spread of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) and discussed ways to strengthen cooperation in health and quarantine fields among MIKTA member countries.

Our side explained the current status of Korea’s response based on a high level of COVID-19 testing capacity and raised the necessity of exceptionally considering essential cross-border movement of medical personnel and businesspeople to minimize the impact on the international economy even when each country strengthens quarantine measures. Furthermore, as the chair country this year, Korea stated that it will continue discussions on health agendas at the MIKTA level and take a leading role in establishing a network among MIKTA health authorities.

The participants agreed on the effectiveness of communication and cooperation among the five MIKTA countries located in different regions and decided to continue follow-up consultations to promote cooperation in the health sector.

An official from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs explained, "This Senior Officials Meeting was held as an extension of our government’s recent efforts to strengthen communication and cooperation with major countries in response to COVID-19, and it is evaluated as an opportunity to further strengthen the momentum for health cooperation among the five MIKTA countries," adding, "The participants highly appreciated Korea’s central role as the chair country, including leading the adoption of the joint statement by foreign ministers related to COVID-19 response on the 9th and providing a forum for discussions among MIKTA senior officials."

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