Ministry of Trade Industry and Resources

Korea and Pakistan Launch Negotiations for Bilateral EPA

Negotiations for an Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) with Pakistan, South Asia's second-largest market, officially began, marking Korea’s first step in 2025 toward further expanding its export base through stronger trade networks. Minister for Trade Cheong In-kyo of the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE, Minister Ahn Duk-geun) and Pakistan’s Federal Minister of Commerce Jam Kamal Khan formally announced the launch of the Korea-Pakistan EPA negotiations on the morning of January 9, 2025, in Seoul. Pakistan, the world’s fifth most populous country, boasts abundant labor resources, with a population of 250 million and young people accounting for 30 percent of the total, as well as natural resources including coal, natural gas, and copper. Strategically located in South Asia, it is a key potential market that shares borders with major Asian economies including China and India. Expanding trade and investment through the Korea-Pakistan EPA is expected  benefit both countries by securing a new export growth market for Korea and contributing to Pakistan's stable economic development. Furthermore, as the Pakistani government actively promotes policies to foster its digital, IT, and automotive industries for economic growth, opportunities for collaboration in these sectors—where Korea has strengths—are expected to expand significantly. Trade Minister Cheong remarked, “Amid heightened uncertainties caused by rapid shifts in the trade environment, including the inauguration of the new administration and the weakening of the multilateral trade system under the WTO, FTAs are becoming increasingly significant.” He added, “Beginning with Pakistan, we aim to broaden our trade networks this year, focusing on emerging markets in the Global South.” Following the launch of EPA negotiations with Bangladesh in November 2024, today’s launch of negotiations with Pakistan is expected to lay the groundwork for long-term partnerships with key South Asian nations that have significant growth potential. date2025-01-09

Korea Named Global Innovation Champion at CES 2025

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE, Minister Ahn Duk-geun) announced on January 8, 2025, that Korea was named one of this year’s Global Innovation Champions at the Consumer Electrics Show (CES) 2025 currently underway in Las Vegas, United States. The Consumer Technology Association (CTA), which owns and produces CES, evaluates countries’ technological innovation capacity through its Global Innovation Scorecard and announces the results during CES. This year’s report evaluates 75 countries according to 15 criteria. Countries are classified into four tires in descending order: Innovation Champions, Innovation Leaders, Innovation Adopters, and Modest Innovators. This year, Korea moved up from its previous position as an Innovation Leader in 2023, to the highest tier of Innovation Champion. Korea received high scores for its openness to global tech trade and cross-border data flows, favorable environment for startup and small business, innovation-friendly legal environment, and digital transparency. Other Innovation Champions include the U.S., the UK, Japan, France, and Germany. date2025-01-08

Korea’s Plant Project Orders Top $30 Billion for Second Consecutive Year

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE, Minister Ahn Duk-geun) announced on January 7, 2025, that Korean companies won a total of USD 34.1 billion in 2024, up 12.7 percent year-on-year. This was the highest annual total in nine years since the $36.5 billion recorded in 2015. Around 46 percent of the total came from projects in the Middle East, amounting to $15.5 billion. In April 2024, Samsung E&A and GS E&C secured Saudi Arabia’s $7.3 billion Fadhili Gas Increment Program, the third biggest mega deal following the United Arab Emirates’ (UAE) Barakah nuclear power plant project ($19.1 billion) in 2009 and Iraq’s Bismayah New City project ($7.7 billion) in 2012. Moreover, a Korean consortium’s participation from the early stages of Qatar’s $2.8 billion desalination and combined cycle power plant project led to Samsung C&T securing the engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) contract in November 2024. Meanwhile, large-scale project wins in Eastern Europe and Southeast Asia last year helped diversify Korea’s presence in the global plant market. Korean companies secured $4.7 billion worth of projects in Eastern Europe alone, including the $1.7 billion Serbian solar power plant project awarded to Hyundai Engineering,. This brought the total value of orders secured in Europe in 2024 to $6.6 billion, up 250.6 percent. Orders from Southeast Asian likewise soared 79.1 percent to $3.4 billion, including Malaysia’s $0.95 billion Phoenix Biorefinery Project, secured by Samsung E&A in December 2024. date2025-01-07

FDI pledges to Korea reach historic high in 2024

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE) of the Republic of Korea announced today that foreign direct investment (FDI) pledged to Korea in 2024 reached a total of USD 34.6 billion (up 5.7 percent year-on-year), surpassing the previous high of 2023. FDI arrivals added up to $14.8 billion (down 24.2 percent). By industry, FDIs pledged to the manufacturing sector hit an all-time high of $14.5 billion (up 21.6 percent). Investments showed notable increases in areas like electrical and electronics (up 29.4 percent to $5.3 billion), machinery and precision medical devices (up 174.0 percent to $2.4 billion), and pharmaceuticals (up 113.2 percent to $0.7 billion). FDIs pledged to the service sector rose 0.3 percent to $17.8 billion. FDIs pledged from Japan (up 375.6 percent to $6.1 billion) and China (up 266.1 percent to $5.8 billion) climbed steeply, whereas those from the U.S. and the EU shrank to $5.2 billion (down 14.6 percent) and $5.1 billion (down 18.1 percent), respectively. The U.S. and EU’s reduced FDI pledges can be attributed to the high base effect of the previous year as well as investors’ wait-and-see stance in light of political factors arising from the regions’ leadership changes. In 2024, greenfield investments pledged to Korea jumped 13.5 percent to a historic high of $26.7 billion, while M&A investment pledges declined 14.5 percent to $7.9 billion.   date2025-01-07

Minister Ahn Visits U.S. to Strengthen Bilateral Cooperation

Minister Ahn Duk-geun of the Ministry for Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE) will visit the U.S. from January 6 to 10, 2025, to meet with lawmakers and key officials from the U.S. federal and state governments to discuss measures to strengthen bilateral cooperation in industrial, trade, and energy. He will also pay his respects to the late former U.S. President Jimmy Carter. From January 6 to 7, Minister Ahn will visit Georgia, home to numerous Korean automobile, battery, and semiconductor companies. He plans to meet with Georgia Governor Brian Kemp to request his active support and interest for Korean companies investing in the state. Following the meeting, Minister Ahn will visit SK On’s Georgia plant for and meet with Korean businesses operating in the region to discuss investment-related issues and state level measures to strengthen Korea-U.S. industrial cooperation. From January 8 to 10, Minister Ahn will meet with lawmakers in Washington D.C., to request the U.S. Congress’ support and interest for stable investment and business operation by Korean companies in the U.S. He will also exchange views with U.S. industry and think tank representatives on ways to deepen bilateral cooperation in high-tech industries. Minister Ahn noted former President Carter’s significant contribution to stabilizing and solidifying Korea-U.S. relations. He added that the visit serves as an opportunity to secure a stable business environment for Korean companies operating in the U.S., while also advancing bilateral industrial, trade, and energy cooperation under the new U.S. administration. date2025-01-06

Korea to Open Largest-Ever Integrated Pavilion at CES 2025

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE, Minister Ahn Duk-geun) and the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA) announced that government-wide collaboration is underway to establish the largest integrated Korean pavilion to date at the Consumer Electrics Show (CES) 2025, scheduled for January 7–10, 2025, in Las Vegas, United States. Under this year’s theme, “Connect. Solve. Discover. DIVE IN.,” CES 2025 will showcase the latest AI technologies, products, and services from major global companies, including more than 900 Korean firms such as Samsung, LG, Hyundai, and SK. CES 2025 is expected to focus on the commercialization of AI technology, development of healthcare industries, social issues, and sustainability.  Following consultations with relevant ministries and government bodies, MOTIE will establish an integrated Korean pavilion with a unified design and brand logo for 445 Korean companies and 36 institutions to support marketing and exports. Prior to the CES 2025 opening ceremony, the ministry will host a seminar on January 6 featuring representatives of the Consumer Technology Association (CTA), which own and produces CES, and U.S. investment bank and financial services company Morgan Stanley. They will discuss the outlook for the U.S. consumer electronics market and strategies for attracting investment. On the day of the opening ceremony on January 7, KOTRA and the Industrial Bank of Korea (IBK) will sign a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to identify innovative Korean businesses, support their overseas expansion, and investment attraction. The “K-Innovation Pitching Challenge” held the following day will offer Korean firms an opportunity to pitch their businesses and network with global companies such as Walmart and IBM to enhance export outcomes. Following CES 2025, MOTIE plans to launch a CES Innovations Awards Winners Forum on January 23, where award-winning companies and export assistance institutes can share best practices and support measures, demonstrate products, and participate in online export consultations. Notably, Korean companies accounted for 129 of the 292 first-round CES Innovation Awards honorees this year, the largest number among participating countries for the second consecutive year. date2025-01-02

Korea’s annual exports reach new highs in 2024

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE) of the Republic of Korea announced on January 1, 2025, that Korea’s annual exports for the year of 2024 amounted to an all-time high USD 683.8 billion, surpassing the previous high of $683.6 billion set in 2022. Daily average exports reached $2.53 billion (up 8.2 percent year-on-year), outperforming the $2.51 billion of 2022. According to World Trade Organization (WTO) statistics, Korea’s global ranking for accumulated exports through January–September 2024 jumped two places to sixth (8th in 2023), posting the steepest export growth rate (9.6 percent) among the world’s top 10 exporting countries. Korea’s imports for 2024 shrank 1.6 percent year-on-year to $632.0 billion amid reduced energy imports. The trade balance stood at a surplus of $51.8 billion (+$62.1 billion year-on-year), the nation’s largest since the record of $69.7 billion surplus in 2018. In 2024, eight out of 15 key export items enjoyed growth. Semiconductors soared 43.9 percent to $141.9 billion, maintaining their upward trajectory for the 14th consecutive month since November 2023 and renewing the record high ($129.2 billion, 2022) in just two years. Notably, despite price falls of general-purpose memory chips in Q4 2024, high value-added items like DDR5s and HBMs led the overall growth and chip exports continued their upward climb throughout the year. All IT items including semiconductors, wireless communication devices, displays, and computers advanced in exports as well, a first in three years since 2021. Exports of automobiles were retained at $70.8 billion (down 0.1 percent) due to partial production setbacks caused by strikes across major automakers and car parts producers, but still managed to enter the $70 billion thresholds for the second consecutive year. Ship exports logged double-digit growth (up 18 percent to $25.6 billion) as high value-added vessels like LNG carriers and large container ships ordered in 2021 were delivered. For petrochemicals, despite unit export price drops from oil price falls in H2 2024, exports rose 5.0 percent on the backs of increased shipments. Bio-health exports hiked 13.1 percent to $15.1 billion in 2024, the growth centering on biosimilars and other pharmaceuticals. With the growing popularity of K-food and K-beauty products worldwide, the export of both agriculture, fishery, and livestock products (up 7.6 percent to $11.7 billion) and cosmetic products (up 20.6 percent to $10.2 billion) entered the $10 billion thresholds for the first time. In 2024, exports to seven out of nine major destinations expanded. To China, semiconductors, petrochemicals, and wireless communication devices showed robust performance, boosting the overall exports 6.6 percent to $133.0 billion. China-bound exports showed growth all throughout the year, with only February and November as exceptions. U.S.-bound exports set historic highs for the seventh consecutive year at $127.8 billion (up 10.5 percent). Automobiles and general machinery drove overall exports, and semiconductors also logged triple-digit growth based on U.S. big tech firms’ wider investments in datacenters. To ASEAN, exports hit $114.0 billion (up 4.5 percent) thanks to the strong growth of semiconductors and petroleum products as well as the double-digit growth of IT items like computers and wireless communication devices. Among all nine major destinations, exports to Latin America ($29.0 billion) recorded the highest growth rate of 17.8 percent. Exports to India (up 4.2 percent to $18.7 billion) came in at an all-time second high and those to the Middle East (up 4.8 percent to $19.7 billion) achieved growth for the fourth consecutive year. Exports to Japan increased 2.0 percent to $29.6 billion. As for the month of December 2024, exports and imports improved 6.6 percent and 3.3 percent to $61.4 billion and $54.9 billi date2025-01-02

Korean government to make last spurt backing chip exports & investment for 2024

Minister for Trade, Industry and Energy Dukgeun Ahn of the Republic of Korea visited SK hynix Cheongju Campus today where he took stock of the export and investment environment and held a conference with relevant companies.  The Cheongju campus was initially SK hynix’s NAND flash production base, but with the recent introduction of through-silicon via (TSV) technology equipment, it is set to transform into a site for producing high-bandwidth memory (HBM) which will play a key role in the AI era. Once SK Hynix completes the Cheongju M15X fab in November as scheduled, the fab will serve as the production base for HBM DRAMs as well. At today’s conference, attendees shared their forecast for next year’s semiconductor industry trends and exports and exchanged views on the Yongin Semiconductor Cluster project, MPE (materials, parts, equipment) R&D support, and chip manpower training. The Korea Semiconductor Industry Association (KSIA) projected that despite difficult conditions, this year’s chip exports will surpass USD 140 billion, higher than the record of $129.2 billion reached in 2022. Attendees further expressed special interest and support towards Trinity Fab, a testbed for securing anchor MPE technologies for advanced semiconductors. The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE) stated that with the Yongin Semiconductor Cluster’s power and water supply agreement being signed in November and enforcement plans for Korea’s national industrial complexes having obtained approval three months earlier than expected, all related procedures are making good progress. Minister Ahn underscored that in spite of the domestic political situation and other internal and external uncertainties, the Government will maintain its unwavering support for the semiconductor industry.   date2024-12-30