The 12th Korea-Russia Joint Council Meeting on Economic and Technology Cooperation was held in Moscow, Russia on August 28. 29 representatives from the Korean government participated in the meeting, including Strategy and Finance Minister, Bahk Jaewan, along with 31 representatives from the Russian government including Development of Russian Far East Minister, Ishayev.

As Russia has recently shown growing interest in developing its far-east regions and cooperating with East Asian countries, including Korea, details regarding bilateral cooperation were discussed.

The discussions covered cooperation in wide areas from trade & investment, energy & natural resources development, industrial development, construction & transportation, science & technology, space technology to culture and tourism, in addition to macroeconomic cooperation. The main results of the discussions are as follows:

First, the two countries noted the importance of developing Siberia, and agreed to cooperate in developing natural gas, establishing the shipbuilding industry, and building ports and airports in the area.

Second, the two countries will discuss in detail possible cooperation in areas such as energy efficiency, nuclear power, space science and IT through relatively advanced knowledge sharing at a later time.

Third, the two countries agreed to increase investment in the agricultural and fishery sector, healthcare and medical services, and the construction industry, because bilateral cooperation in those areas has become more important with Russia’s recent induction into the WTO.

Minister Bahk proposed restarting discussions over the Korea-Russia Bilateral Economic Partnership Agreement (BEPA). Discussion has stalled since 2009.

Fourth, the two countries discussed cooperating together in the international community, particularly at G20 meetings, and in industries such as green growth, procurement and forestry.

At a sideline meeting with Korean entrepreneurs in Russia, Minister Bahk introduced Korea’s Electronic Customs Clearance System and proposed adopting the system in Russia. Minister Ishayev agreed to discuss the matter in detail at the next meeting.

*Government press release (September 5)