Reorganizing Trade Structure... Initiating Preparations for a Major Shift

Launch Meeting of the 'Trade Structure Transformation Forum'

The government has initiated the formulation of a strategy to fundamentally transform the trade structure in order to create a stable growth framework for South Korea's trade structure that is resilient to changes in external conditions.

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy announced on the 20th that it has formed the Trade Structure Transformation Forum and held its inaugural meeting.

The Trade Structure Transformation Forum aims to develop concrete measures to innovate South Korea's trade structure into a robust and stable system based on a detailed analysis of the country's trade structure. The forum is composed of four subcommittees: ▲ Diversification of export items and markets ▲ Increasing the added value of trade ▲ Expansion of trade scope ▲ Innovation of trade support systems. Each subcommittee includes six experts from various fields such as industry, academia, and research.

The inaugural meeting held at the Trade Center was attended by the co-chairs, heads of the Korea Institute for International Economic Policy, the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA), the Korea Institute for Industrial Economics and Trade, as well as the secretariat heads of each subcommittee and forum members. The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy plans to gather diverse expert opinions over the next five months (July to November) and establish the 'Trade Structure Transformation Strategy' by the end of the year.

At the inaugural meeting, Ahn Deok-geun, Director-General for Trade Negotiations at the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, stated, "Our exports, which have experienced rapid growth in the past, are currently vulnerable to external conditions due to structural issues such as concentration in certain items and specific markets, resulting in cyclical fluctuations in response to recent global economic changes. Efforts to transform the trade structure into one that is resilient to changes in the global trade environment, including the US Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) and the European Union (EU) Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM), are urgently needed. We will actively support the forum to ensure that the diverse opinions presented are maximally reflected in future trade and commerce policies."

(Photo) [Image source=Yonhap News]

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