1. On April 26, Second Vice Foreign Minister Ahn Chong-ghee attended and delivered welcoming remarks at the dinner held for the participants in the second 2017 meeting of the APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC) at the Convention Center of the Federation of Korean Industries (FKI) in Seoul.

2. At the dinner co-hosted by the Foreign Ministry and the FKI, Vice Minister Ahn stressed that in the face of the growing tide of trade protectionism in the Asia-Pacific region, the member economies of APEC should work together to promote free trade.

° In particular, the Vice Minister, highlighting APEC’s leading role in trade and investment liberalization efforts in the Asia-Pacific region since its founding in 1989, asked ABAC to contribute in this regard.

- He also relayed the commitment of the Republic of Korea to take an active part in such efforts.

※ The ABAC meeting marks the first of its kind taking place in Seoul in six years since the one held in the city in April 2011.

※ ABAC is a private advisory group founded pursuant to the decision made at the APEC ministerial meeting in Osaka in November 1995 in order to have views of entrepreneurs in the region reflected in APEC activities and to seek their advice.

- Three people from each of the 21 APEC member economies are appointed to ABAC. The FKI serves as the ABAC ROK secretariat.

※ APEC, the largest regional mechanism for cooperation in the Asia-Pacific, seeks an open, regional economic community built on voluntary and non-binding agreements.

- The scope of the agenda of APEC is broadening to include not only the trade and investment liberalization in the region but also various other areas, such as achieving sustainable and inclusive growth in the region through enhanced connectivity, structural reform and the development of human resources.

3. Vice Minister Ahn, saying that free trade should not taken for granted like air but should be maintained and advanced through efforts, put forward the following three policy suggestions for improved trade conditions.

° First, efforts should be redoubled to further liberalize trade, multilaterally, regionally and bilaterally.

° Second, amid the recent rise of trade-restrictive measures by individual countries and hostility towards trade and globalization resonating among the public who fear that “free trade is taking away their jobs,” more efforts should be made to dispel the public resentment towards trade.

° Third, inclusive trade policies should be implemented to support those who lose out from free trade.

4. The ABAC meeting, which came at a time when it is increasingly important to manage risk factors for the ROK economy, is expected to serve as an opportunity to highlight to foreign entrepreneurs the ROK as an attractive investment and tourism destination.

° At the meeting from April 26 till 29, the ABAC members are discussing “Creating New Dynamism, Fostering a Shared Future,” APEC’s theme for 2017, in the Regional Economic Integration Working Group, the Connectivity Working Group, the MSME & Entrepreneurship Working Group, the Sustainable Development Working Group, and the Finance & Economics Working Group.

5. The meeting has brought together 200 people, including 60-odd entrepreneurs from the 21 APEC member economies, such as the US, China, Russia and Japan; and diplomats to the ROK from Australia, Russia, the Philippines and seven other countries.


* unofficial translation