Minister for Trade Inkyo Cheong and Minister for Foreign Affairs Cho Tae-yul of the Republic of Korea attended the 35th Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Ministerial Meeting (AMM) on November 14 in Lima, Peru.


This year’s AMM was chaired by Peru’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Elmer Schialer and Foreign Trade and Tourism Minister Desilu León with the participation of the 21 APEC member countries’ foreign affairs and trade ministers.


Under this year’s theme of “Empower. Include. Grow.”, attendees discussed priorities including the harnessing of innovation and digitalization to promote the transition to a formal and global economy (Session 1), intensifying efforts for sustainable growth for resilient development (Session 2), and advancing regional economic integration to spur trade and investment for inclusive and interconnected growth (Session 3).


In the first session, Foreign Affairs Minister Cho proposed measures for APEC members’ cooperation towards resilient growth and Korea’s role in digital innovation. In the second session, he called attention to food security and energy transition issues in connection with the shared challenge of climate change, proposing policies for sustainable growth.


In the third session, Trade Minister Cheong emphasized the need for intraregional cooperation for inclusive, interconnected, and sustainable growth amid economic uncertainties and proposed measures to enhance economic cooperation within APEC such as maintaining the WTO-based multilateral trade system and catalyzing freedom of trade and investment through the realization of the Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific (FTAAP).


The trade chief stated that Korea is aiming to further facilitate the discourse on intraregional sustainable growth to gain tangible outcomes in artificial intelligence (AI), digital trade, and carbon-free energy diffusion.


Meanwhile, Foreign Affairs Minister Cho articulated that as Chair of APEC 2025, Korea will be leading the dialogue next year on sustainable growth centering on keywords like “connect,” “innovate,” and “prosper” under the theme of “Building a Sustainable Tomorrow Together,” which was met with strong interest and support from member countries.