1. During his official visit to Austria (Salzburg) from July 27 to 28, Minister of Foreign Affairs Park Jin met with Federal Minister of Labour and Economy of Austria Martin Kocher on July 27 and discussed ways for economic cooperation between Korea and Austria and sought support for the former’s bid to host World Expo 2030 in Busan.

2. Foreign Minister Park noted with appreciation that the two countries posted a record-high trade volume over the past two consecutive years despite the difficult global economic circumstance. He went on to suggest that the two countries work closely together for a seamless implementation of what had been agreed upon between the two sides in the economic sector during Prime Minister Han Duck-soo’s visit to Austria in May. Meanwhile, Minister Kocher voiced hope for close cooperation in the economic security sector, including the stabilization of supply chains, between the two countries that share a trait of high dependency on trade. On that note, he proposed that the two countries make concerted efforts to broaden the scope of cooperation into future-oriented industries involving electric vehicles, hydrogen and batteries.

3. Foreign Minister Park stated that World Expo 2030, if held in Busan, would serve as a venue for exchanges among enterprises from across the world, thereby offering an opportunity for a further increase in cooperation between Korean and Austrian companies; and asked Austria to support Korea’s World Expo bid. Minister Kocher responded that close attention is being paid to the decision of supporting which country to be the host of World Expo 2030 and that the Korean side’s request will be mulled over seriously.

4. With regard to the multiple economic acts enforced by the European Union, Foreign Minister Park asked the Austrian government to pay attention to ensure that the acts are in line with international trade norms and that Korean companies are not discriminated against by those acts.