1. The seventh meeting of the Republic of Korea-Israel Joint Economic Committee will take place in Seoul on September 12.

° The ROK and Israeli delegations to the meeting will be led by Deputy Minister for Economic Affairs Lee Tae-ho of the Foreign Ministry and Deputy Director-General for Foreign Trade Ohad Cohen of the Ministry of Economy, respectively.

2. In the forthcoming meeting, the two sides will review the progress in the bilateral trade and investment as well as in bilateral FTA negotiations; and discuss ways to promote the economic and trade ties between the two countries. Also among the topics to be discussed are ways to work together in the science and technology sector, including research and development, information and communications technology, the intelligent transportation system (ITS), and joint research programs; air services; climate change, water, energy and sustainable development; and people-to-people exchanges.

3. The ROK side will take note of the entry into force in February 2016 of the bilateral Working Holiday Program Agreement and Agreement on the Mutual Recognition and Exchange of Driving Licenses as a result of close bilateral cooperation. The ROK will ask the Israeli side to render cooperation on matters of its concern, including the desired resolution of employment visa-related challenges facing Korean companies operating in Israel.

4. The ROK- Israel Joint Economic Committee has been convened on an annual basis since 2014 and thereby been becoming a regularly-convened consultative mechanism between the two countries. Given that both countries are implementing innovation-focused economic policies, the upcoming meeting is expected to serve as an opportunity for the two countries to share with each other their respective experiences in the development of knowledge economy and discuss in depth ways to seek mutually-beneficial cooperation in various sectors.

* The first round of the ROK-Israel FTA negotiations took place earlier in 2016, paving the way for increased trade and investment between the two countries.


* unofficial translation