Resumption of Korea-ASEAN Economic Leaders’ Meeting Proposed

Federation of Korean Industries (FKI) Chairman Heo Chang-soo proposed the resumption of the Korea-ASEAN Economic Leaders’ Meeting, which has not been held since 1982, at the ASEAN Night banquet in Seoul on Oct. 21.

At the dinner party, the chairman appreciated the launch of the ASEAN Economic Community for the opening of 12 fields, including commodities, investment, and manpower, and suggested that the economic leaders’ meeting that took place for four years from 1979 be resumed for the discussion of pending business issues. At the four meetings led by the late former chairman of the Hyundai Group Chung Ju-yung, various collaborations were discussed for Korean companies’ participation in raw materials processing, automobile development, joint penetration of third-country markets, and other issues.

“The ASEAN is Korea’s second-largest partner in terms of trade, overseas investment, and overseas construction, but the size of the trade between Korea and the ASEAN is one-fourth of that between Korea and China, and the mutual direct investment is one-sixth of that between Korea and Japan,” the FKI explained, adding, “We are looking forward to deepening our cooperation with the region in view of its huge growth potential.”

In the meantime, the ASEAN Night event was organized for Korean transportation, energy and ICT companies’ opportunities in large-scale, connectivity-related projects in the region ahead of the launch of the economic community scheduled for December this year.