IPEF Ministerial Meeting Held... Discussion on Participation Benefits

Andukgeun, Director General of Trade Headquarters, Attends Video Conference

Ahn Deok-geun, Chief Negotiator for Trade, delivering a congratulatory address
(Seoul=Yonhap News) Ahn Deok-geun, Chief Negotiator for Trade at the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, is delivering a congratulatory address at the 'Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF) Academic Symposium' held at the LW Convention Crystal Hall in Jung-gu, Seoul on November 3rd last month. 2022.11.3 [Provided by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. Redistribution and DB prohibited]
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[Asia Economy Sejong=Reporter Lee Jun-hyung] Internal consultations on the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF), launched last May, are gaining momentum.

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy announced that Ahn Deok-geun, Director-General for Trade Negotiations at the ministry, attended the 'IPEF Ministerial Meeting' held via video conference on the morning of the 20th. The meeting was attended by ministerial-level officials from 14 IPEF member countries, including South Korea, the United States, Japan, Australia, and Vietnam. The meeting was chaired by Gina Raimondo, U.S. Secretary of Commerce.

On this day, member countries discussed the specific benefits of participating in IPEF. Director-General Ahn stated at the meeting, "Considering the composition of IPEF member countries, which includes both developed and developing nations, the areas where IPEF benefits can be most effectively realized are technical support and capacity building." He added, "It is necessary to derive IPEF agendas through collaboration among research institutions of each country, promote exchanges between students and universities, and strengthen cooperation networks in technology and research and development." Director-General Ahn further noted, "By involving the research and academic communities in IPEF discussions through such cooperation, we can develop practical and concrete benefits that can be provided to governments, companies, and organizations of each country."

IPEF is an economic cooperation framework in the Indo-Pacific region led by the United States. The Biden administration first unveiled the concept of IPEF at the East Asia Summit (EAS) in October last year and officially launched it in May this year. The combined gross domestic product (GDP) of IPEF member countries is $34.6 trillion. This is $8.5 trillion more than the GDP of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), which came into effect in February this year and amounts to $26.1 trillion. This indicates the significant economic importance of IPEF.

Negotiations on IPEF’s agenda items have also begun in earnest. IPEF announced a ministerial declaration last September and held its first official negotiations from the 10th to the 15th of this month in Brisbane, Australia. The main agenda items of IPEF are trade, supply chains, decarbonization, and tax & anti-corruption.

The government plans to gather domestic opinions ahead of the second official negotiations. A ministry official stated, "Based on the results of the first official negotiations, we will collect broader stakeholder opinions through public-private strategic meetings to prepare for the second negotiations."

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