1. The Foreign Ministry will host a workshop for working-level FTA negotiators of APEC’s developing economies on June 27 and 28 on the theme of “ways to draw up a positive list of concessions for negotiations in the sectors of services and investment.”

2. At the workshop, Deputy Foreign Minister for Economic Affairs Lee Tae-ho will deliver opening remarks, followed by presentations and discussions on the significance of services trade and investment in the current global trade environment; the structure of the WTO agreement on services and ways to draw up a positive list of concessions; ways to make a negative list of concessions; and experience of APEC economies in negotiations in the services sector.

3. In particular, the forthcoming workshop is expected to serve as an opportunity for APEC economies to share with one another their experiences in negotiations and reform in the services sector, thereby helping lead APEC economies to engage in discussions in the services sector, a new engine for growth in the Asia-Pacific region.

4. The ROK government will continue conducting capacity-building projects for the economic integration in the Asia-Pacific region and thereby contribute continuously to efforts to narrow the gap in the negotiating capacity between developed and developing countries in the Asia-Pacific region.


* unofficial translation