Seoul, Sept. 11 (BNA): South Korea has taken part in a new round of negotiations on the United States-led Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF) under way in Thailand, the industry ministry said Monday.
The fifth round of IPEF talks began Sunday in Bangkok for a seven-day run, and South Korea sent a delegation led by Deputy Minister for Trade Negotiations Roh Keon-ki, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, Yonhap reported.
The platform was launched by U.S. President Joe Biden in 2022 and involves a total of 14 member nations, including South Korea, the U.S., Australia, India, Indonesia, Japan, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
The initiative has four pillars — supply chain resilience, trade, a clean economy and a fair economy — and they reached an agreement on the pillar of supply chain resilience during a meeting in Detroit in May.
“Member nations are working on details for final agreements,” Roh said. “We will do our best to help push forward the negotiations and make tangible results.”
The IPEF members represent 40 percent of the global gross domestic product and 28 percent of the global goods and services trade, according to government data.
In 2021, trade volume between South Korea and the remaining 13 IPEF member nations reached $498.4 billion, accounting for 39.6 percent of Seoul’s total trade that year.
F.K.N.
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