1. The second meeting of the Republic of Korea-Malaysia Economic Cooperation Committee took place in Seoul on July 19, with Deputy Minister for Economic Affairs Yun Kang-hyeon of the ROK Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Deputy Secretary-General Norazman Ayob of the Malaysian Ministry of International Trade and Industry leading their respective delegations.

2. In the meeting, the two sides reviewed progress of the follow-up measures to President Moon Jae-in’s state visit to Malaysia this March and current status of the cooperation projects under the Look East Policy 2.0 that have been implemented since 2014. They also discussed ways to step up bilateral economic cooperation.

(Follow-up Measures to the Summit)

○ The two sides noted that domestic procedures and launch of the negotiations for the Korea-Malaysia Free Trade Agreement (FTA), promoted pursuant to the agreement reached by the two leaders this March, are well underway, and expressed hope that the FTA would be concluded in November this year.

○ Furthermore, the two sides noted with appreciation that follow-up measures to the ROK-Malaysia summit are being faithfully implemented in the areas of Halal, smart city, transportation, information and communication technology, energy and defense industry; and agreed to redouble their efforts to produce visible outcome.

(Cooperation Projects under the Look East Policy 2.0)

○ The two sides reviewed the progress made to date in the implementation of the previous projects; reorganized the projects with focus on those with high potential for progress; and agreed to implement them in a more substantial way by exchanging half-yearly review reports.

○ In the meeting, the Malaysian side proposed new cooperation projects in areas including Halal, smart city, information and communication technology and energy. The two sides agreed to make efforts to gain concrete outcome from the projects through further consultations.

(Bilateral Economic Cooperation)

○ The two sides took note of the progress in bilateral economic cooperation including the increasing trade and investment, and agreed to make continued efforts to further such trend.

- In particular, the ROK side conveyed requests of Korean companies in Malaysia, and the Malaysian side stated that it will consider the ROK’s requests.

3. The second meeting of the ROK-Malaysia Economic Cooperation Committee, held in three years ahead of the ASEAN-ROK Commemorative Summit which is to be held in November this year and the 60^th anniversary of establishment of diplomatic relations between the ROK and Malaysia in 2020, served as an opportunity to strengthen overall economic cooperation with Malaysia, one of the ROK’s key partners for the New Southern Policy, and to provide new impetus for implementation of the cooperation projects under the Look East Policy 2.0.

* unofficial translation