1. A delegation from the Republic of Korea, led by Deputy Foreign Minister for Economic Affairs Lee Tae-ho and comprised of officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, will attend the third APEC Senior Officials’ Meeting (SOM) in Lima, Peru, on August 27 and 28. The forthcoming APEC SOM will cover deliverables to be produced at the APEC Summit in Lima, Peru, on November 19 and 20.

2. The SOM will cover various topics, including a collective strategic study on the envisioned Free Trade Area of the Asia–Pacific (FTAAP); ways to draw up an “APEC Services Competitiveness Roadmap” in a follow-up on the “APEC Services Cooperation Framework” adopted at the Manila Summit in 2015; ways to modernize small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs); APEC’s direction post 2020, the target year for attaining the Bogor Goals -- trade and investment liberalization in the region; and deliverables to be produced at the APEC Education Ministerial Meeting in Lima from October 4 to 6, 2016.

3. At the forthcoming SOM, the ROK will present ways that it will contribute in terms of main agenda items, including sharpening competitiveness in the services sector, developing human resources and achieving an economic integration in the region, and will seek support from other member economies of APEC.

° Deputy Minister Lee will also attend a SOM Dialogue on Regional Trade Agreements (RTAs)/Free Trade Agreements (FTAs), which will take place on August 25 on the sidelines of the APEC SOM. At the meeting, he will review with the other participants the progress in the FTAAP capacity-building project, which has been conducted by APEC and led by the ROK since 2012, and present ways to move it forward.


* unofficial translation