Ministry of Trade Industry and Resources

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Resources (MOTIR, Minister JK Kim) held a session titled “Powering Supply Chains through Investment Facilitation” at the WTO Public Forum 2026 on September 17, 2026.

This year’s Public Forum was held at WTO headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, from September 15 to 17, 2026, under the theme “Powering the Future,” with a focus on the future of trade in services. MOTIR and the Korea International Trade Association (KITA) jointly hosted the September 17 session to highlight the importance of investment facilitation in expanding trade in services and strengthening supply chains. The discussion focused on the need for early implementation of the Investment Facilitation for Development Agreement (IFDA) and key issues to be addressed going forward.

The IFDA is a plurilateral agreement designed to support greater and more sustainable investment, a major pillar of the global economy and trade, by making investment-related administrative procedures more transparent, predictable and efficient. The negotiations were concluded at the 13th WTO Ministerial Conference (MC13) in 2024, and the IFDA currently has 131 participating WTO members.

Since 2017, Korea and Chile have co-chaired the IFDA negotiations and led them through to their conclusion. Korea also led discussions at the 14th WTO Ministerial Conference (MC14) on incorporating the IFDA into the WTO legal framework and continues to contribute to the agreement’s early entry into force.

At Korea’s session, moderated by Professor Gabrielle Marceau of the University of Geneva, Nan Li Collins, Director of the Division on Investment and Enterprise at UN Trade and Development (UNCTAD), emphasized that implementing the IFDA could help improve conditions for investment in services. Dorothy Tembo, Deputy Executive Director of the International Trade Centre (ITC), explained that the IFDA could help attract investment and support growth, particularly in developing countries, by creating a more favorable and transparent investment environment. Ed Brzytwa, Vice President of International Trade at the Consumer Technology Association (CTA), outlined the regulatory and administrative difficulties businesses face when making investments and emphasized the importance of a predictable and transparent investment environment.

“The IFDA is expected to play an important role in expanding investment worldwide, including in developing countries, by streamlining investment-related administrative procedures and improving investment conditions,” said Yoon Chang-hyun, Director General for Multilateral Trade and Legal Affairs at MOTIR. He emphasized the need to identify practical and feasible ways to bring the IFDA into force and implement it as soon as possible, and affirmed Korea’s commitment to contributing to these efforts.