Choo Kyung-ho, Meeting with Latin American Ambassadors in Korea: "Expanding Core Industry Cooperation"

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance Choo Kyung-ho discussed economic cooperation measures with the Latin American Ambassadors to Korea on the 7th.

The Ministry of Economy and Finance announced that Deputy Prime Minister Choo attended a luncheon meeting hosted by the Latin American Ambassadors to Korea at the Four Seasons Hotel in Seoul on the same day. This meeting was arranged by the Latin American Ambassadors to Korea to discuss economic cooperation measures with Korea on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Korea and 15 Latin American countries last year. The meeting was attended by Deputy Prime Minister Choo as well as ambassadors and charg?s d'affaires from 18 Latin American countries including Panama, Argentina, Brazil, and El Salvador.

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance Choo Kyung-ho is speaking at a luncheon meeting with the Latin American ambassadors to Korea on the 7th. (Photo by Ministry of Economy and Finance)

In his keynote speech before the meal, Deputy Prime Minister Choo highly praised the mutually beneficial development of economic cooperation between Korea and Latin America over the past 30 years, despite the physical distance between the two sides, noting that trade volume has increased more than tenfold. He then proposed expanding economic cooperation into future core industries such as ICT (Information and Communication Technology) and renewable energy. To this end, the Ministry of Economy and Finance plans to jointly hold the '1st Korea-Latin America Innovation Forum' in Latin America this October with the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB).

He also emphasized the need for cooperation in supply chains and climate change response. This refers to establishing a mutually beneficial supply chain cooperation system between Latin America, which is rich in key minerals such as lithium, and Korea, which possesses world-class technology in batteries and related fields. Furthermore, Deputy Prime Minister Choo called for strengthening strategic partnerships in areas such as climate change response and hydrogen industry development.

He also stressed cooperation measures for infrastructure development. This involves expanding Korea’s development support in Latin America, which has been conducted through multilateral development banks (MDBs), into bilateral cooperation projects with individual countries and landmark private investment projects involving private sector participation. Deputy Prime Minister Choo also requested support for the 2030 Busan World Expo, which the government is actively pursuing to host.

An official from the Ministry of Economy and Finance stated, "Latin America is a third market with great growth potential, attracting strong interest from our companies, and its strategic importance as a foothold for entering the North American market is increasing more than ever due to recent supply chain restructuring movements in the United States. We plan to support the enhancement of economic cooperation with Latin America through various policy measures going forward."

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