G20 Trade Ministers Agree on 'COVID-19 Response Action Plan'

Yoo Myung-hee, Chief Trade Negotiator, Attends '2nd G20 Special Trade Ministers' Meeting'
Agrees on Concrete Action Plans for Facilitating Business Mobility and Maintaining GVCs

Yoo Myung-hee, Chief Negotiator of the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. / Photo by Moon Ho-nam munonam@

[Asia Economy Reporter Moon Chaeseok] The Group of Twenty (G20) has united to prevent economic contraction caused by the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19). They agreed on an action plan containing 38 specific measures related to trade and investment, including facilitating the movement of business personnel.

According to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy on the 15th, Trade Negotiations Chief Yoo Myung-hee attended the "2nd G20 Special Trade Ministers' Meeting" at 9 p.m. on the 14th and agreed on the "COVID-19 Response Action Plan."

The special meeting was attended by trade ministers from G20 member countries and invited countries (Spain, Singapore, Switzerland, UAE, Jordan, Rwanda), as well as representatives from international organizations such as the IMF, WBG, OECD, WTO, ITC, and UNCTAD.

At the meeting, G20 trade ministers agreed on short-term measures including essential personnel movement, trade facilitation, logistics connectivity, and transparency of trade regulations.

Long-term measures such as WTO reform, strengthening the resilience of Global Value Chains (GVC), and introducing guidelines for essential business personnel movement were also included in the action plan.

This action plan reflected many provisions from the joint ministerial declaration agreed upon on the 1st, led by South Korea along with Singapore, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, regarding ensuring GVC flows and facilitating essential personnel movement.

Specifically, the plan includes ▲promoting the resumption of essential personnel movement and introducing guidelines for essential business personnel movement ▲facilitating logistics by temporarily converting passenger aircraft into cargo planes to handle air cargo volumes ▲and expediting and simplifying customs procedures through the use of electronic documents such as smart apps.

Chief Yoo highly evaluated that the agreed action plan contains the most comprehensive and specific contents related to COVID-19 response. He emphasized the need to effectively implement the plan so that it benefits actual businesses. He also mentioned the necessity to further develop the plan in line with the ever-changing COVID-19 situation.

Chief Yoo proposed developing this action plan into a global trade and investment guideline for crisis response.

According to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, participants from various countries reaffirmed the urgent need for international cooperation more than ever. They pledged continuous international cooperation by agreeing to ongoing consultations for compliance with and development of the action plan.

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