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Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy CI. / Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy

The government is pushing to expand trade and investment with India, home to the world's largest population and a $4 trillion economy, broadening the scope of discussion beyond opening goods and services markets to include cooperation on supply chains and strategic industries.

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy announced on the 19th that it will hold the 13th round of improvement negotiations on the Korea-India Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) in Seoul through the 21st.

Negotiations to improve the Korea-India CEPA began in 2016 but were suspended amid differences between the two countries' positions. Talks resumed following the Korea-India summit in April, with the 12th round held in New Delhi, India in May.

This round of negotiations will involve about 60 officials from both governments, with Lee Min-young, acting trade negotiator at the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, and Kapil Chaudhery, a director at India's Ministry of Commerce, serving as chief negotiators. The two sides will discuss opening key goods and services markets, along with rules of origin and other areas of mutual interest. They also plan to exchange views on new areas of cooperation, including supply chains and strategic industrial cooperation.

The two sides will also flesh out operating plans for the Korea-India Industrial Cooperation Committee, newly established following the April summit, discussing key agenda items along with the committee's subcommittee structure and meeting schedule.

A Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy official said, "India is an emerging market with the world's largest population, but its trade with Korea is only about one-tenth that of ASEAN, meaning there is substantial room for expanding trade and investment going forward," adding, "Through these improvement negotiations, we will build an economic cooperation framework that goes beyond traditional market access to encompass supply chain and industrial cooperation between the two countries."

                                                                                                           Kim So-young