1. The first meeting of the Republic of Korea-Malaysia Economic Cooperation Committee took place in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on February 2, with Deputy Minister for Economic Affairs Lee Tae-ho of the ROK Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Deputy Secretary-General Hiswani Harun of the Malaysian Ministry of International Trade and Industry leading their respective delegations.

2. In the meeting, the two sides reviewed the progress in the Second Wave of Look East Policy, which is being implemented pursuant to the agreement reached at the ROK-Malaysia summit talks in December 2014. They also discussed ways to work together on economy as well as on regional and global stages.

[Cooperation projects under the Second Wave of Look East Policy]

◦ The two countries reviewed the progress in the implementation of 17 cooperation projects under the Second Wave of Look East Policy and agreed to conduct them in a more substantial way by exchanging half-yearly reports and holding working-level meetings on them.

[Bilateral economic cooperation]

◦ The ROK side noted with appreciation the progress in people-to-people and material exchanges between the two countries. Given that Malaysia is one of the major energy sources for the ROK and is serving as the ROK’s gateway to ASEAN in terms of investment, the ROK delegation voiced hope that such trade and investment will continue between the two economies in a mutually complementary and beneficial way.

◦ The ROK side asked for Malaysia’s cooperation for the expanded presence of Korean companies, which have high technology and experiences, in the infrastructure sector, including the Malaysia-Singapore high-speed rail project as well as the construction of new nuclear power and petro-chemical plants.

[Cooperation on the regional level]

◦ The two sides noted with appreciation close bilateral cooperation at APEC and through the ROK-ASEAN cooperative channel, and agreed to continue cooperation at the APEC Summit in Peru on November 19-20, 2016.

◦ The ROK side proposed that their two countries work together for an early conclusion of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), and asked that Malaysia render active support and cooperation to the ROK, should the ROK decide to join the negotiations for the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP).

3. The ROK and Malaysia, since forging special ties through the First Wave of Look East Policy in the early 1980s, have enjoyed close partnership. The Economic Cooperation Committee meeting, the first of its kind since the establishment of the Second Wave of Look East Policy, served as an opportunity to give an impetus to the cooperation projects under the Policy and consolidate economic cooperation on the bilateral and regional levels.

◦ Furthermore, the meeting of the Economic Cooperation Committee, a formal consultative channel for the promotion of economic cooperation between the two countries, served as an opportunity to express the ROK’s interest in taking part in the Malaysia-Singapore high-speed rail project, a bidding for which is expected to take place at the end of this year, to urge the Malaysian government to resolve challenges facing Korean companies in Malaysia and thereby to extend active support to Korean companies for their expanded presence in the Malaysian market.

4. Building on the outcome of the meeting, the ROK Foreign Ministry, in cooperation with other relevant government agencies, will continue efforts for the Second Wave of Look East Policy to be implemented smoothly and produce concrete results.

◦ The second meeting of the ROK-Malaysia Economic Cooperation Committee will take place in Seoul in the first half of the year 2017.


* unofficial translation