Hong Nam-ki Meets US Treasury Secretary Yellen "Cooperation for Final Agreement on Digital Tax"

Deputy Prime Minister Hong "Thankful for Currency Swap Extension... Actively Cooperating with US 'B3W'"
Yellen "Korea-US Summit Accelerates Key Cooperation Projects"

[Asia Economy Reporter Jang Sehee] Hong Nam-ki, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance, held separate bilateral meetings with Janet Yellen, U.S. Secretary of the Treasury, and L?tfi Elvan, Turkish Minister of Treasury and Finance. They discussed key issues of the Group of Twenty (G20) and ways to strengthen economic cooperation between their countries.

On the 9th at 12:00 PM (local time), Deputy Prime Minister Hong met with Secretary Yellen in Venice, Italy, to discuss economic issues between the two countries. This meeting came four months after a phone call at the time of Secretary Yellen’s inauguration. Secretary Yellen is the first woman to achieve the so-called "Triple Crown," having served as Chair of the White House Council of Economic Advisers (CEA), Chair of the Federal Reserve, and now Secretary of the Treasury.

South Korea and U.S.: "Major cooperation tasks at the summit yielded results... Cooperation on finalizing digital tax agreement"

During the meeting, Deputy Prime Minister Hong and Secretary Yellen evaluated the digital tax agreement at the Inclusive Framework (IF) plenary meeting as a historic international tax reform. They also exchanged views on detailed issues such as the excess profit allocation rate and revenue attribution criteria, which are scheduled to be discussed by October.

Both sides agreed that international discussions to finalize details are crucial for the actual implementation of digital tax Pillar 1 and Pillar 2, and pledged to continue cooperating to reach a reasonable final agreement.

Deputy Prime Minister Hong expressed gratitude for U.S. support regarding the extension of the currency swap and issues related to Iranian won funds, stating, "We will cooperate with the U.S.-led 'Build Back Better World' (B3W) initiative through linkage between the New Southern Policy and the Indo-Pacific strategy." He also promised the prompt implementation of follow-up measures on the five major economic cooperation plans from the Korea-U.S. summit.

In response, Secretary Yellen said, "We appreciate South Korea’s willingness to cooperate on B3W," and added, "We agree on the necessity of achieving results through concrete follow-up actions on the major cooperation tasks announced at the Korea-U.S. summit."

Cooperation on climate change response was also discussed. Both countries agreed to strengthen future cooperation to expand private sector participation in the Green Climate Fund (GCF) and enhance GCF capabilities. They also shared the view that the voluntary Special Drawing Rights (SDR) contributions should be designed to encourage participation from more countries.

Turkish Minister of Treasury requests visa exemption and activation of direct flights... Deputy Prime Minister Hong: "Will discuss with relevant ministries"

Deputy Prime Minister Hong and Turkish Minister of Treasury and Finance L?tfi Elvan discussed ways to strengthen economic cooperation such as trade and investment between the two countries.

They assessed that the global economy is showing an uneven recovery, with pressures for interest rate hikes due to the spread of variant viruses and rising inflationary pressures. Regarding the digital tax, they agreed to cooperate on common interests during discussions leading up to the October meeting of finance ministers.

Minister Elvan emphasized expanding trade and investment flows centered on advanced sectors such as artificial intelligence (AI), information technology (IT), petrochemicals, and renewable energy. He also requested support for visa exemption, activation of direct flights, new currency swap agreements, and mutual evaluation related to Turkey by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF).

Deputy Prime Minister Hong agreed on the need to expand exchanges between the two countries and mentioned that he would discuss Turkey’s requests with relevant ministries. Furthermore, both sides agreed to discuss ways to strengthen exchanges and cooperation through the Korea-Turkey Economic Joint Committee at the earliest possible date.

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