AKBC e-Newsletter March

Dear AKBC Members,

Welcome to the March 2023 edition of our newsletter, where we bring you the latest updates on Korea Australia trade and bilateral developments.

March was an important milestone for the AKBC, with our inaugural delegates’ visit to Federal Parliament on the 8th. This was a hugely successful visit, with our members meeting with Treasurer Jim Chalmers and the offices of Deputy Prime Minister Marles, Minister King, and Minister Husic discussing key opportunities in bilateral trade and investment and identifying areas where we can better engage policymakers on mutually beneficial collaboration and partnership.

On the economic front, March saw a persisting slowdown in Korea’s economy on weak exports and business sentiment. This was the second consecutive month that the Korean Ministry of Economy and Finance noted an economic slowdown in its monthly assessment report.

Despite this, March saw an uplift in Korea’s job additions, with some 469,000 jobs. Through February, South Korea's monthly job additions had been slowing down for nine consecutive months – in March Korea’s unemployment rate went down 0.1 percentage point on-year to 2.9 percent.

Economic slowdown has not dented the focus of Korean business and government on overcoming the supply chain and decarbonisation challenges. In mid-March, POSCO International announced its intention to nurture carbon capture and storage as one of its “future growth drivers,” as it accelerates its expansion into green energy. Furthermore, substantive engagement with Korea continued from our State governments, noting Minister Bill Johnston’s mission to Korea to attend InterBattery 2023, promoting Western Australia’s critical minerals and energy sectors.

In upcoming events we are pleased to host, alongside the WA Government, the WA-Korea Business Forum. Occurring on 5 May in Perth, keynote addresses will be by Premier Hon. Mark McGowan MLA,  Ambassador of the Republic of Korea to the Commonwealth of Australia, Mr. Wan-joong Kim on his first official visit to Perth, and Meg O’Neill, CEO and Managing Director of Woodside. The forum will focus on Future Energy - opportunities in the critical minerals and energy sector, and Defence and Security in the Indo-Pacific - opportunities for WA and Korea within AUKUS.

Finally, our premier event of the year, the Joint Meeting will take place in Seoul this year, on September 7-8. As we prepare for another stellar event bringing private and public sector leaders together in Korea, we encourage all AKBC members to mark these dates in their calendars to attend and I look forward to seeing you there.

That's it for this month's newsletter.  As always please feel free reach out at info@akbc.com.au if you'd like to get in touch. I welcome suggestions and feedback on our planned engagements and activities.

Sincerely,

Louise Clunies-Ross

AKBC Executive Director

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