Minister for Trade Inkyo Cheong of the Republic of Korea held the “ASEAN-ROK Think Tank Dialogue on Economic and Trade Policy (AKTD)” roundtable meeting today in Seoul with roughly 30 attendees composed of ASEAN countries’ ambassadors to Korea, representatives of the Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia (ERIA), and the ASEAN Secretariat to discuss plans for the AKTD’s launch in 2025 and future directions.


The AKTD is a research consultation body to be operated through the participation of major government-funded research institutes of Korea and 10 ASEAN countries. It will focus on conducting joint research on trade and economic policy topics suitable for gaining mutually beneficial outcomes such as supply chain and carbon-free energy. Key research outcomes will be reported during the annual Korea-ASEAN economic ministers’ meetings and shared through forums.


In today’s opening message, Trade Minister Cheong remarked that this year is significant in light of Korea and ASEAN’s establishment of a comprehensive strategic partnership. He added that AKTD will be the first economic cooperation project to mark the beginning of future bilateral cooperation and asked for strong support and interest from the ambassadors and other ASEAN representatives present.


In the following session, Korea Institute for Industrial Economics and Trade (KIET) laid out detailed plans for AKTD and ERIA proposed measures for ERIA-AKTD collaboration. ERIA President Tetsuya Watanabe expressed hopes for AKTD to develop into a platform symbolic of stable Korea-ASEAN cooperation amid the rapidly changing global trade environment and stated that ERIA will also seek ways to create synergy.


MOTIE plans to officially launch the AKTD in early 2025 after confirming the participating ASEAN think tanks based on each country’s government recommendations. The ministry will be leading joint research with the ASEAN Secretariat and other think tanks, while also hosting the inaugural AKTD conference in Korea during the first half of 2025 with private sector participation among other various measures to propel the AKTD as a leading Korea-ASEAN trade and economic cooperation platform.