Korea-Germany "Supply Chains and Advanced Industries Expanding... Intergovernmental Cooperation"

The 2nd Korea-Germany Trade Cooperation Dialogue Held
Discussion on Trade Cooperation Measures Including Supply Chains

[Asia Economy Sejong=Reporter Dongwoo Lee] The government announced on the 23rd that it discussed cooperation measures to secure the stability of global supply chains for automotive semiconductors and medical and healthcare sectors with the German Ministry of Economic Affairs.

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy held the "2nd Korea-Germany Trade Cooperation Dialogue" via video conference with the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action on the same day, exchanging views on recent major trade issues such as supply chains, digital trade, and the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM). The meeting was attended by Kim Wanki, Director General of Trade Policy Bureau, Seo Seongtae, Head of European Trade Division, as well as Andreas Nicolin, Director General of Foreign Trade Promotion, and Niemann, Head of Korea-Japan-Mongolia Division.

Both Korea and Germany agreed that securing the stability of global supply chains has emerged as a key issue after COVID-19. In particular, the Korean government announced plans to expand cooperation with major countries by recently signing government-to-government Memorandums of Understanding (MOUs) to strengthen supply chain cooperation with Australia, the United Kingdom, and others.

They emphasized that since close supply chain cooperation in private sectors such as chemicals between the two countries is recently expanding to advanced industries including semiconductor materials, government-to-government cooperation is important to promote private sector collaboration.

The importance of digital trade agreements was also mentioned. Both sides urged the need for policy efforts and the establishment of global digital trade norms as the digital transformation of the world economy enters an accelerated phase. To this end, the Korean government advocated the importance of digital trade agreements as a measure to activate e-commerce, facilitate digital business, and establish a foundation for cooperation on digital new technologies.

The German side shared recent discussions related to the CBAM being introduced by the European Union (EU) and explained that the Korean government should design CBAM to comply with World Trade Organization (WTO) rules prohibiting discriminatory measures domestically and internationally and to prevent unnecessary trade barriers.

Meanwhile, the Korea-Germany Trade Cooperation Dialogue held on this day is one of the three working groups (Industry, Energy, Trade) within the only ministerial-level regular consultative body operating between the economic ministries of the two countries. It has been continuously implemented since the agreement in December 2019 to establish a high-level dialogue and operating working groups to promote comprehensive cooperation between the two countries.

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