Chairman & CEO Choi Jin-shik of the Federation of Middle Market Enterprises of Korea (FOMEK) stressed the significance of establishing strategies to promote trade and ramp up cooperation in the supply chains with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) by going beyond a bio-polarity of the United States and China.
FOMEK Chmn. Choi made the remarks while speaking at “2025 MME International Cooperation Meet-Up Day: Korean-ASEAN Business Networking Day for Expanding Trade and Partnerships,” jointly hosted by FOMEK and Korea Importers Association (KOIMA) at Fairmont Ambassador Seoul in Yeouido, Seoul, on Nov. 17.
FOMEK Chmn. Choi said, “Cooperation with the ASEAN, the world’s fifth largest economic sphere, a huge market with a young population of 680 million people and an axis of the ‘New South’ as a business partner with high-level production capabilities is very significant.”
Chmn. Choi shared the view that Korea needs to strengthen open-type regional cooperation beyond the U.S.-China bipolarity to build growth foundation to effectively cope with the realigning of global trade and commerce order in the wake of the concluding of Korea-U.S. trade and security negotiations.
Chmn. Choi called for the establishing foothold for a futuristic alliance to prop up the post-dual structure by restoring a balance of trade and commerce order based on the upgraded WTO regulations and ramping up a multi-layer regional cooperation based on the expanding of multilateral FTAs.
Middle market enterprises (MMEs), which have secured global supply chain connectivity, serve as core entities to effectively cope with global pending issues, such as AI transformation and the restructuring of supply chains, Chmn. Choi said.
In a welcoming speech at the event, Minister for Trade Yeo Han-koo said, “The government will support successful market entry on the part of companies, including MMEs, by building up mutual cooperation upgrade through the advancing of Korean-ASEAN FTA into a digital-oriented one and easing trade barriers, such as non-tariff barriers through proactive ‘programmatic diplomacy.’”
The “Meet-UP Day” event was a part of the MME Week, which fell on the third week of November between Nov. 17 and Nov. 24.
It was designed to explore strategies of ramping up trade and strengthening supply chains with the ASEAN, emerging as a core axis of new trade order and effective ways of entering the region.
Hah Dae-gook, director in charge of cooperation with the ASEAN at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, spoke under the theme “Springboard for Growth and Innovation” in which he elaborated on details of the “Comprehensive Strategic Partnership (CSP) Vision,” declared by President Lee Jae-myung during his Korean-ASEAN summit in October.
He said the Korean government will continue to evolve the current cooperative relations prioritizing the ASEAN while expanding collaboration in areas, such as energy, AI/digital, space/aviation, and health.
The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Resources (MOTIR) said the “Middle Market Enterprises Week” coincided with a variety of events, ones designed to ramp up international cooperation, and a world-class product certification awards ceremony.
The Middle Market Enterprises Week, the biggest event of middle market enterprise circle, took place from Nov. 17 until Nov. 24.
The Middle Market Enterprises Week has been observed in the third week of every November since 2018 in accordance with the Act on Middle Market Enterprises.
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