1. Discussions among APEC’s 21 member economies to successfully host this year’s APEC Summit (November 18, 2018, Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea) will begin in earnest with the first APEC Senior Officials’ Meeting (March 8-9, Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea).

o A delegation of the Republic of Korea to the meeting will be led by Deputy Minister for Economic Affairs Yun Kang-hyeon of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

※ Schedule of APEC Meetings in 2018

- Summit: November 18, Port Moresby

- Ministerial Meeting: November 16, Port Moresby

- Finance Ministers’ Meeting: October 15-17, Port Moresby

- Senior Officials’ Meeting: (2nd) May 23-24, (3rd) August 19-20, (concluding) November 12-13, Port Moresby

2. Papua New Guinea, which chairs APEC this year, set △improving connectivity and deepening regional economic integration, △inclusive and sustainable growth, and △inclusive growth through structural reform as key agendas for the APEC Summit to be held under the theme “harnessing inclusive opportunities, embracing digital future.”

3. The ROK will present the following plans to contribute to each key agenda, and make efforts to get more support and participation from member states.

o (improving connectivity and deepening regional economic integration) In order to promote regional economic integration, the ROK will implement the “3rd Regional Economic Integration Capacity Building Needs Initiative (CBNI) (2018-2020),” and explore ways to contribute to the implementation of the SCFAP II*, which aims to reduce the Asia-Pacific’s trade costs along the supply chain and improve the reliability of the supply chain.

※ Capacity Building Needs Initiative (CBNI): carrying out workshops and seminars on each area of RTA/FTA to build developing countries’ capacities for RTA/FTA negotiations in order to establish a Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific (FTAAP)

- An IPR negotiation capacity-building workshop will take place in Seoul in late June, 2018.

※ The ROK and Australia will participate in the SCFAP II “Chokepoint 1 (Lack of Coordinated Border Management and Underdeveloped Border Clearance and Procedures)” as co-leaders, devise concrete plans for implementation, and make efforts to remove the Chokepoint 1.

* SCFAP II: Monitoring Framework for the APEC Supply Chain Framework Action Plan Phase II 2017-2020

o (inclusive and sustainable growth) As part of APEC’s efforts to respond to trade protectionism, the ROK will start to implement the “Inclusive Trade Initiative,” which earned the status of Pathfinder at the Concluding Senior Officials’ Meeting (CSOM) in November last year. The ROK will also pursue a project to share APEC members’ policies for inclusive growth, including those for SMEs, women, youth and food security.

- In order to contribute to enhancing SMEs’ capacities and innovation, the ROK will push forward the “APEC Young Entrepreneurs Networking Program” as this year’s new project.

※ APEC Young Entrepreneurs Networking Program: The ROK will invite young business founders, government officials and representatives from startup companies, and hold a range of events, including a seminar, as well as visits to startups and the youth startup academy (May 2018).

o (inclusive growth through structural reform) The ROK will contribute to strengthening the region’s competitiveness in the services sector by developing a set of non-binding principles for domestic regulation of the services sector, and the services trade restrictiveness index (STRI), and by pursuing a project to promote SMEs’ integration into global value chains in the services sector.

* unofficial translation