Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy: "This Year, IPEF-Level Investment Expansion and Cooperation Will Become Visible"

The government plans to strengthen practical cooperation this year, including expanding clean economy investments under the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF).

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy announced that the IPEF ministerial meeting was held virtually on the 14th.

At this ministerial meeting, while ensuring thorough preparations for the ratification and implementation of the IPEF supply chain, clean economy, and fair economy agreements concluded last year, it was agreed to promote practical cooperation to enhance connectivity within the Indo-Pacific region through holding the 'IPEF Clean Economy Investor Forum' and launching clean economy cooperation programs.

First, the government will officially begin the ratification process by publicly releasing the texts of the clean economy and fair economy agreements to gather feedback, coinciding with the ministerial meeting. The agreements concluded in November last year include cooperation on early transition to a clean economy such as energy transition, emission reductions in industry and transportation sectors, carbon markets, anti-corruption systems, and enhancing transparency and efficiency in tax administration. Participating countries plan to proceed with necessary procedures such as signing to promptly ratify the clean economy and fair economy agreements.

The supply chain agreement, which contains cooperation measures to stabilize regional supply chains, came into effect last month on the 24th for some countries. South Korea has completed domestic procedures including government review and cabinet approval on the 6th, and the agreement is expected to come into effect in April.

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy expects 2024 to be the year when concrete cooperative activities to maximize the effectiveness of the IPEF sectoral agreements begin. First, the investor forum will be held on June 6 in Singapore. The government, investors, and multilateral development banks will participate to promote investment expansion in clean economy infrastructure sectors such as eco-friendly energy and ports within the Indo-Pacific region, conducting activities such as investor-project matching.

Specific cooperation programs aimed at early achievement of the clean economy agreement goals will also commence. Five sectoral cooperation programs will be promoted, including carbon market activation, expansion of clean electricity, hydrogen market and supply chain establishment, sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) activation, and retraining and upskilling for a just transition. South Korea will lead carbon market cooperation by establishing standards and systems related to regional carbon markets and actively participate in clean electricity cooperation to spread the Carbon-Free Energy (CFE) initiative.

At the meeting, Noh Geon-gi, Director General for Trade Negotiations, said, "While last year focused on concluding the IPEF sectoral agreements, 2024 will be a year to prepare for the ratification and implementation of these agreements and to visualize investment and cooperation at the IPEF level." He added, "We plan to actively lead cooperation in the clean economy sector by utilizing our advanced technologies and promote the expansion of Korean companies’ entry into the Indo-Pacific region."

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