Industrial Minister Bang Moon-gyu Visits Chile and Trinidad and Tobago... Strengthening Industrial and Energy Cooperation with Latin America

Visitng Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy Bang Moon-kyu will visit Chile and Trinidad and Tobago from the 28th as a special envoy of the President to strengthen industrial and energy cooperation with the Latin American region. It has been eight and a half years since the Minister of Industry visited Chile in April 2015. This is the first visit to Trinidad and Tobago. About 40 economic delegations consisting of government, public, and private sectors are expected to join this visit.

The first destination, Chile, is the country with which Korea signed its first Free Trade Agreement (FTA) in 2003, serving not only as a foothold for Korean companies to enter Latin America but also playing a leading role in the supply chain of critical minerals and renewable energy sectors such as green hydrogen. It ranks first in the world in lithium reserves, a key mineral for secondary batteries, and fourth in molybdenum reserves, which is gaining attention as a raw material for next-generation semiconductors.

Minister Bang plans to discuss with the Chilean government ways to strengthen cooperation in the supply chain of critical minerals, expand economic cooperation based on the FTA, promote the entry of Korean companies in hydrogen and solar power sectors, and agenda items such as the carbon-free (CF) alliance currently being promoted by the Korean government. In addition, a business roundtable will be held with major companies from both countries to create momentum for a groundbreaking strengthening of public-private cooperation between the two countries. For reference, the 23rd Korea-Chile Economic Cooperation Committee was held in Korea on the 12th.

The second destination, Trinidad and Tobago, is a key island country in the Caribbean and leads the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), a major regional organization. Recently, exchanges between the two countries have been actively progressing, including Prime Minister Han Duck-soo’s visit to Trinidad and Tobago during the 45th CARICOM Summit in July.

Minister Bang will discuss with the Trinidad and Tobago government ways to expand trade and investment, industrial and energy cooperation, and promote private economic exchanges. In particular, through the prompt establishment of the Trade and Investment Promotion Framework (TIPF) with the Caribbean region, which is being promoted by the Ministry of Industry, specific cooperative projects with Trinidad and Tobago will be discovered.

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