The Federation of Korean Industries (FKI) convened the first Korea-US-Japan Business Dialogue in Washington, DC. This event brought together business communities from Korea, the United States, and Japan to inaugurate a formal trilateral dialogue. Organized in partnership with the US Chamber of Commerce and Japan Business Federation (Keidanren), this private consultation signifies a substantial collaborative initiative among the industries of these three nations.
During the meeting, which coincided with the inaugural Korea-US-Japan Industry Ministers’ Meeting in Washington on the same day, the three major economic organizations from Korea, the United States, and Japan jointly announced the launch of a private-sector business dialogue. They also committed to holding regular future meetings. Korean Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy Ahn Duk-Geun expressed strong support for the establishment of this 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 included eight Korean companies such as Samsung Electronics, SK, Hyundai Motor Company, Hanwha, Posco, Hyosung, and LS; ten US companies including Intel, Micron Technology, Qualcomm, and Amazon; and eight Japanese firms including Toyota, Sony, Hitachi, and Sumitomo. They signed a memorandum of understanding to enhance cooperation among FKI, the US Chamber, and Keidanren.
This memorandum commits to advancing trilateral cooperation in economic security and technology, following agreements from the leaders’ trilateral summit at Camp David last August. The three nations pledged to hold the Korea-US-Japan Business Dialogue annually, coinciding with high-level meetings involving their leaders.
Kim Chang-beom vice chairman of FKI said “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.”
Charles Freeman, Senior Vice President of the US Chamber stated “To implement the MOU, we will continue to work with the FKI and Keidanren to hold biannual working group meetings and annual general meetings.”
“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”.