1. As part of the efforts to follow up on the Republic of Korea-United States summit talks held in June 2017, the Foreign Ministry, together with the Korea Institute for International Economic Policy (KIEP), will host the first ROK-US joint public-private economic forum in Seoul on October 23.

° The forum will come as the ROK and the US agreed at the latest round of their summit talks to seek ways to enhance economic opportunities through a joint public-private forum.

※ According to the joint statement issued at the bilateral summit talks, “Both sides also committed to work together through the Senior Economic Dialogue to promote and expand cooperation on other economic issues and to explore the enhancement of economic opportunities through a joint public-private forum.”

2. The forum will kick off with opening remarks by Vice Foreign Minister Cho Hyun and congratulatory remarks by Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Joseph Yun, and cover the economic cooperation between the ROK and the US in session I, ways to enhance women’s capabilities in session II, and the fourth industrial revolution in session III.

° In session I on the bilateral economic cooperation, officials of the Foreign Ministry and the US Embassy in the ROK will share with the other participants the progress in the bilateral cooperation. Executive Vice President Marcus Noland of the Peterson Institute for International Economics (PIIE) and Vice President Chung Chul of the KIEP Department of International Trade will discuss the mutually beneficial progress in bilateral economic cooperation as well as areas with great potential for cooperation.

° In session II on ways to enhance women’s capabilities, such women leaders of the two countries as CEO Ari Horie of Women's Startup Lab and head of Facebook’s Economic Growth Initiatives for Asia Pacific Clair Deevy will discuss the current presence of women in the workplace and their challenges as well as ways to work together in that regard.

° In session III on the fourth industrial revolution, Policy Leader for GE Digital Paul Hughes, Mark Tetto of TCK Investment Management, and others related to the fourth industrial revolution are expected to discuss socio-economic changes to be brought by the revolution as well as ways to work together in that regard.

3. At the forum, the Foreign Ministry will discuss with experts from the private sector ways that the ROK and the US can work together to enhance women’s capabilities and with regard to the fourth industrial revolution -- matters of concern of the two countries’ governments. Building on the outcome of the forum, the Ministry will further seek ways to step up bilateral cooperation, including at the bilateral Senior Economic Dialogue (SED).

° In a move to increase women’s capabilities, the US administration, at the suggestion of Ivanka Trump, created the “Women Entrepreneurs Finance Initiative (We-Fi)” fund at the World Bank, to which the ROK will contribute 10 million US dollars.

° With regard to the fourth industrial revolution, the Trump government set up “the White House Office of American Innovation (OAI)” and holds President Trump-chaired “tech summits” with CEOs of such information technology (IT) companies as Apple and Google in efforts to seek ways to respond to the revolution.

4. Anyone interested in attending the forum may do so after prior online registration at http://jppef2017.co.kr. The participants will be offered an opportunity to engage in a free exchange of views with guest speakers on women’s capabilities and the fourth industrial revolution during the question-and-answer period of each session.


* unofficial translation