1. The Republic of Korea and Slovenia, during Slovenian Foreign Minister Karl Erjavec’s visit to the ROK from March 11 through 13, held the inaugural meeting of their Joint Economic Committee in Seoul on March 13. In the meeting, the two sides discussed ways to promote their economic cooperation.

2. The ROK and the Slovenian delegations to the meeting were led by Director-General for Bilateral Economic Affairs Kim Seung-ho and Director-General for Economic Diplomacy Stanislav Rascan of their Foreign Ministries, respectively.

◦ The ROK delegation included officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning, the Ministry of Government Administration and Home Affairs, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA), and the Korea Tourism Organization. The Slovenian side consisted of officials from the Foreign Ministry, the Automotive Cluster of Slovenia, the National Institute of Biology and the Slovenian Tourist Board.

3. Slovenia, which has lately been seeing a sharp increase in the number of Korean tourists, is a powerhouse in the sectors of automobile industry and basic sciences. With its Port of Koper serving as a gateway to East, Central and West Europe, the country is a logistics bridgehead for Korean companies operating in the Czech Republic, Slovakia and other East European countries.

◦ In particular, since the conclusion of the ROK-EU FTA, the ROK has been seeing an increase in exports to European countries via Slovenia, -- which has outstanding logistics infrastructure -- leading to a sharp growth in the two-way trade volume.

4. In the Joint Economic Committee meeting, the two sides reviewed the progress in their economic ties and discussed ways to work more closely in promising sectors for cooperation, including automobiles, creative economy, tourism, transport, logistics, information technology and the e-government system.

◦ In addition, the two sides both recognized the need to conclude a social security agreement and an arrangement on the mutual recognition of driver’s licenses in order to institutionally buttress efforts to boost trade and investment as well as people-to-people exchanges. They agreed to work together toward an early conclusion of the agreements. 


               Spokesperson and Deputy Minister for Public Relations of MOFA

* unofficial translation