IPEF Ministerial Meeting Held... Main Negotiations 'Imminent'

Government Attends IPEF Ministerial Meeting... Discusses Negotiation Agendas
Ministry of Industry: "Exchanging Positions on Agendas... Preparing to Start Negotiations"

Indo-Pacific Economic Framework Public-Private Strategy Meeting
(Seoul=Yonhap News) Ahn Deok-geun, Director General for Trade at the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (right), is presiding over the "Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF) Public-Private Strategy Meeting" on June 23 at the EC Room of the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Jung-gu, Seoul. 2022.6.23 [Provided by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. Redistribution and DB reproduction prohibited]
Photo by Yonhap News
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[Asia Economy Sejong=Reporter Lee Junhyung] The Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF) ministerial meeting, launched last May, was held via video conference.

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy announced that Ahn Deok-geun, Director-General for Trade Negotiations, attended the IPEF ministerial meeting held online from the 26th to the 27th. The meeting was co-chaired by Katherine Tai, U.S. Trade Representative (USTR), and Gina Raimondo, Secretary of Commerce. Fourteen participating countries of IPEF, including Korea, Japan, Australia, and New Zealand, discussed the agenda items to be addressed in future negotiations.

The main negotiations on each IPEF agenda item also appear imminent. The four key agenda items of IPEF are trade, supply chains, decarbonization, and tax/anti-corruption. A ministry official said, "Since the launch of IPEF last May, ministerial and senior-level meetings have been held to exchange positions among participating countries on each agenda item," adding, "We are exploring ways to advance discussions and preparing to commence full-scale negotiations."

Director-General Ahn emphasized at the ministerial meeting that IPEF must lead to tangible outcomes. He stated, "IPEF should present directions to establish sustainable new trade norms and create a cooperative environment where regional companies can achieve practical results," and added, "It is necessary to enhance regional supply chain cooperation and promote collaboration between the public and private sectors as well as among companies."

Meanwhile, the government launched the IPEF Public-Private Strategic Meeting on the 23rd of last month and is reviewing response measures for each agenda with industry. To gather stakeholder opinions, the government also held an IPEF public hearing on the 8th of this month.

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