The first APEC Senior Officials’ Meeting (SOM I) of 2009 was held from February 15 to 16 in Singapore, APEC’s host for 2009.

The SOM I and its subfora, including the Committee on Trade and Investment (CTI) and the Economic Committee (EC), among others, was attended by Mr. Lee Tae-ho, the Director-General of the Multilateral Trade Bureau of Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MOFAT), as the chief delegate, as well as government representatives from relevant ministries, including MOFAT, Ministry of Strategy and Finance, Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Knowledge Economy of the Republic of Korea and the Korea Intellectual Property Office.

In the meeting, they discussed on the matters of how to address the global financial crisis; support for the WTO Doha Development Agenda (DDA); regional integration that includes FTAAP; trade and investment liberalization and facilitation; structural reforms; and physical connectivity, which refers to the physical and institutional infrastructure necessary to link regions both internationally and domestically.

In the November 2008 APEC summit held in Lima, Peru, leaders agreed to continue APEC’s efforts to liberalize trade and investment as a way to overcome the global financial crisis. The SOM was to discuss concrete measures for the implementation of the agreement forged in Lima.

ㅇ As a starting point to overcoming the global financial crisis, Korea presented a proposal to the upcoming SOM for the implementation of the standstill against protectionism that was agreed by leaders during the 2008 APEC summit. Korea also expects to hold discussions on policy cooperation with high-ranking officials from other member states in order to prevent the spread of protectionism.

ㅇ Last year, Korea led the drafting of the Report on the Review of Existing Analyses Relevant to a Possible FTAAP, one of the deliverables of the 2008 APEC summit. Korea expects to carry out additional analyses this year on the economic effects of the FTAAP.

In addition, in order to overcome the global financial crisis, and in recognition of the necessity of trade finance facilitation and of greater real cooperation among trade finance institutions, the SOM was drafted roadmap providing concrete measures allowing for a more systematic merging of the financial and real sectors, through means such as joint talks with the Senior Financial Officials Meeting (SFOM).

The IAP Peer Review sessions was held for Malaysia, Brunei, Thailand and Indonesia from February 13-14, before the SOM, examined the implementation status of each country in their drive toward the realization of the APEC Bogor Goals. The Korean delegation resolving the countries’ impediments to market entry for Korean businesses, and worked toward achieving progress in liberalizing trade and investment in the four countries.

ㅇ Director-General Lee supervised the session by acting as moderator to the IAP Peer Review of Malaysia.

Director-General Lee also held bilateral talks with chief delegates from the United States, Japan, Australia, Indonesia, Singapore, and other countries. Also they discussed on setting the 2009 APEC agenda, the direction of the work, and preparation for the summit.