Leaders of IPEF member states agree to launch 'critical minerals dialogue'

▲ This AFP photo shows South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol (3rd from L) posing for a group photo with other leaders participating in a summit of the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF) in San Francisco on Nov. 16, 2023. (Yonhap)

Yoon-IPEF summit

Leaders of IPEF member states agree to launch 'critical minerals dialogue'

By Lee Haye-ah

SAN FRANCISCO, Nov. 16 (Yonhap) -- Leaders of the 14 member states of the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF) agreed Thursday to launch a dialogue channel tasked with building stable supply chains in critical minerals, South Korea's presidential office said.

The second IPEF summit was held in San Francisco on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit, with the participation of leaders from the member nations, including South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, U.S. President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida.

The meeting was held to review progress in negotiations since the framework's launch in May last year and to discuss plans for future cooperation.

The presidential office said the leaders "highly assessed" that agreement was reached on three of the four pillars of the framework -- supply chain resilience, clean energy and fair economy -- in a short period of time, with only the trade pillar remaining.

"They also agreed to form a 'critical minerals dialogue' for the establishment of stable critical mineral supply chains and an 'IPEF Network' for the vitalization of people-to-people exchanges among the member countries," it said in a press release.

"Moreover, they agreed to increase cooperation on energy security and technology, and provided the foundation for IPEF to produce continued results by agreeing to hold a summit every other year and a ministerial meeting every year," it added.

The presidential office said it expects the summit and agreements to greatly enhance supply chain resilience within the Indo-Pacific region.

It also said the agreement to promote US$155 billion worth of new investments in the clean energy sector by 2030 will open large business opportunities for South Korean companies, while the agreement to prevent illegal activities during government procurement will improve the stability and transparency of the business environment within the region and encourage more South Korean firms to go overseas.

IPEF, which was launched by Biden in 2022, is widely regarded as a U.S. initiative to counter China's growing influence in the region.

The participating nations are South Korea, the United States, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Indonesia, India and Fiji, which together account for 40 percent of the global gross domestic product and 28 percent of global goods and services trade.

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