According to Yonhap News,

(SEOUL=Yonhap News) Economic leaders at the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) reached a broad consensus Friday on a united voice against rising protectionism trends and vowed to step up cooperation in digital infrastructure to facilitate trade and investment, Seoul's commerce ministry said.

Paik Un-gyu, the Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy, said the ASEM Economic Ministers' Meeting discussed a wide range of issues, including trade, technology innovation and environmental issues.

About 250 trade ministers and senior officials from 51 nations attended the meeting held at the Convention and Exhibition Center in southern Seoul for a two-day run. The ASEM trade ministers' gathering is the seventh of its kind and the first in 12 years, after the last meeting was held in the Netherlands in 2005.


Participants in the ASEM Economic Ministers' Meeting pose for a picture ahead of the first plenary session held at the Convention and Exhibition Center (COEX) in southern Seoul on Sept. 22, 2017. (Yonhap) Participants in the ASEM Economic Ministers' Meeting pose for a picture ahead of the first plenary session held at the Convention and Exhibition Center (COEX) in southern Seoul on Sept. 22, 2017. (Yonhap)

The participants voiced their support for free trade and a multilateral trading system against protectionism and agreed to further discuss the issue at the 11th Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organization (WTO) scheduled in December.

"ASEM partners agreed to discuss priorities and directions of cooperation with regard to trade and investment cooperation in the ASEM region, in consideration of the transformation in economic environments," Paik Un-gyu, Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy, said in a press briefing after the meeting.

They also discussed ways to enhance digital connectivity between Asia and Europe to embrace the explosive growth of e-commerce, and agreed to step up cooperation in the transportation, logistics and energy sectors.

"ASEM partners paid particular attention to the growth potential for trade and investment related to energy networks in the ASEM region," said Paik, who served as the presiding chair of this year's meeting. "They agreed to make active efforts on swift and successful implementation of the Paris Agreement in the ASEM region."

The Paris Agreement is a landmark climate accord signed in the French capital in 2015 that compels almost every nation on earth to reduce its carbon emissions under individually set schedules.


Paik Un-gyu, Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy, makes a speech during the ASEM meeting held at COEX in southern Seoul on Sept. 22, 2017. (Yonhap) Paik Un-gyu, Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy, makes a speech during the ASEM meeting held at COEX in southern Seoul on Sept. 22, 2017. (Yonhap)

The policymaker said he held a number of bilateral meetings with European ministers to discuss concerns related to trade following Britain's decision to exit from the European Union last year.

South Korea signed the free trade agreement (FTA) with the EU in 2010 to become the first Asian country to have such a deal.

When asked about Washington's growing pressure on Seoul to revise the bilateral trade deal, attacked by U.S. President Donald Trump as a "horrible deal," Paik said, "I think it's very important that ASEM partners expressed a united voice against protectionism and supported the multilateral trade cooperation."

At the end of the meeting, the officials agreed to hold the economic ministerial meeting every other year, setting the next venue in Europe.

The outcomes of Friday's meeting will be reported to the ASEM Summit at Brussels, which is scheduled for 2018.

ASEM was established in 1996 to boost ties between Asian and European countries. It comprises 20 Asian and 31 European nations, as well as ASEAN and the European Union.

By Kim Eun-jung

ejkim@yna.co.kr

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