1.The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Ministerial Meeting will take place in Bali, Indonesia, on October 4 and 5.

° The Meeting will bring together delegates from APEC member economies, the World Trade Organization (WTO) and other international organizations, and the APEC Business Advisory Council, APEC’s mechanism for private-sector consultation.

° Minister of Foreign Affairs Yun Byung-se and Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy Yoon Sang-jik will co-lead the delegation of the Republic of Korea at the Meeting.

2. The Meeting’s agenda will include APEC and the evolving economic integration in the region; support for the multilateral trade regime and the attainment of the Bogor Goals; the promotion of connectivity; and the achievement of sustainable growth with equity. The participants will coordinate the positions of their respective economies on the agenda items to be discussed at the APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting to take place on October 7 and 8 and examine in advance possible achievements.

° In the session on “APEC and the evolving economic integration in the region,” Minister Yun Byung-se will discuss the role that APEC should play for the economic integration in the region in the midst of the increase in bilateral and multilateral FTAs.
-Minister Yun, in particular, will stress that APEC should take steps toward the economic integration in a way that does not hinder the envisioned conclusion of an FTA of the Asia Pacific (FTAAP), a long-term vision of APEC. He will also bring attention to the plan to continue the ROK-led project to narrow the gap of FTA related capabilities among APEC member economies to realize an FTAAP.
- Contents regarding this project will be reflected in the Joint Ministerial Statement to be adopted as the Meeting’s concluding document.

° In the session on “support for the multilateral trade regime and the attainment of the Bogor Goals,” Minister Yoon Sang-jik will highlight the need to make a success of the WTO Ministerial Meeting this year in order to strengthen the multilateral trade regime. He will call on APEC member economies to make efforts to attain the Bogor Goals.

° In the session on the “promotion of connectivity,” Minister Yun Byung-se will welcome the initiative related to this key agenda item of APEC and also propose that private-sector investment be accelerated to expand infrastructure in the Asia-Pacific region and that information technology be used to improve the efficiency of the existing infrastructure in the region.

° In the session on the “the achievement of sustainable growth with equity,” Minister Yoon Sang-jik will touch on the ROK’s policy on the energy demand management aimed at energy security as well as its comprehensive cooperation with APEC member economies on industry and energy.

3. Ministers Yun Byung-se and Yoon Sang-jik, by taking part in the discussions on the aforementioned topics at the APEC meeting, will contribute to coordinating positions between developing and developed economies in a balanced manner and thereby to making the APEC Ministerial Meeting lead to substantial achievements at the APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting. 


                        Spokesperson and Deputy Minister for Public Relations of MOFA

*unofficial translation