November 21, 2024

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(From left) US Deputy Secretary of Commerce Don Graves, Korean Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy Ahn Duk-geun, Federation of Korean Industries Vice Chairman Kim Chang-beom, the US Chamber of Commerce's Senior Vice President for Asia Charles Freeman, Keidanren Managing Director Ichiro Hara, Japanese minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Ken Saitō and Japan's ambassador to the US Shigeo Yamada take pose for a photo during the inaugural Korea-US-Japan Business Dialogue held at the US Chamber of Commerce in Washington on Wednesday. (The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy)

The business communities of Korea, the United States and Japan gathered together in Washington, DC to launch and formalize a trilateral business dialogue, according to the Federation of Korean Industries on Thursday.

The FKI, an association for Korean industries, hosted the inaugural Korea-US-Japan Business Dialogue on Wednesday, the first private consultation between the three countries in collaboration with the US Chamber of Commerce and Japan Business Federation, also called Keidanren.

At the meeting, which was held in conjunction with the inaugural Korea-US-Japan Industry Ministers' Meeting in Washington on the same day, the three representative economic organizations from the three countries announced the launch of the private sector business dialogue and agreed to hold future meetings regularly.

Korean Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy Ahn Duk-geun celebrated the launch of the trilateral business dialogue.

"Just before today's meeting, I held the first trilateral industrial ministerial meeting with Minister Saito and Secretary Raimondo, and confirmed our willingness to cooperate on developing trilateral industrial cooperation and joint responses to global risks."

The meeting was attended by eight companies from Korea, including Samsung Electronics, SK, Hyundai Motor Company, Hanwha, Posco, Hyosung and LS; 10 companies from the US, including Intel, Micron Technology, Qualcomm and Amazon; and eight firms from Japan, including Toyota, Sony, Hitachi and Sumitomo.

During the meeting, a memorandum of understanding on cooperation between the FKI, the US Chamber, and Keidanren was signed.

The MOU includes a commitment to promote trilateral cooperation in economic security and technology, building on the agreement reached at the trilateral summit between leaders of the three countries held at Camp David in August last year.

To this end, the three countries pledged to hold the Korea-US-Japan Business Dialogue at least once a year. It was agreed that the business talks would be held in conjunction with meetings of the three heads of state or governments.

"I believe that as the trilateral cooperation in the industrial and economic sectors discussed at the trilateral summit has now been institutionalized in writing, this will lead to more stable economic cooperation among the three countries," FKI Vice Chairman Kim Chang-beom said.

"To implement the MOU, we will continue to work with the FKI and Keidanren to hold biannual working group meetings and annual general meetings," said Charles Freeman, senior vice president of the US Chamber.

"This will allow the business community to have a say in the policy-making process of the three governments." Said Ichiro Hara, managing director of Keidanren.

"The importance of cooperation among the three countries has increased amidst the unstable global environment, and I expect our cooperation to be further strengthened through the newly established tripartite framework."

By Park Han-na (hnpark@heraldcorp.com)