Press Release

MINISTRY OF STRATEGY AND FINANCE

www.mosf.go.kr

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Summary

The 13^th Meeting of the Korea-Russia Joint Commission on Economic, Scientific and Technological Cooperation was held on July 9. Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Strategy and Finance Hyun Oh-seok led the Korean delegation, which included

representatives from 14 ministries, including the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future

Planning, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, and the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. Russia’s delegation was headed by the Minister of Russian Far East, Viktor Ishayev, and was attended by representatives from 15 ministries, including the Ministry of Economic Development, the Ministry of Energy, the Ministry of Transport, the Ministry of Industry and Trade, and the Minister of Agriculture.

This was the first high-level economic cooperation meeting between Korea and Russia since each country’s new administrations assumed office, and the two countries discussed measures to cooperate broadly across 10 different sectors, including trade and investment, energy and other natural resources, construction, infrastructure, agriculture, health and medical care, as well as culture and tourism.

Major Outcomes

1. Significant agreements were reached regarding projects of Korean interest, such as entering Far East Asian / Siberian markets, and developing the North Pole Route.

Expanding into Far East Asian Markets

Korea actively brought up providing regional agricultural investment support to expand into Far East Asia Markets in order for Korean firms to gain an advantageous position in grain markets. Russia promised to actively cooperate with Korean firms in order to develop grain distribution infrastructure in the Far East Asia region, such as grain silos.

North Pole Route Cooperation

Both sides agreed to continue to discuss utilizing the North Pole Route and participating in the development of coastal ports in the Far East Asia and North Pole regions. An agreement was reached regarding speedily concluding a ‘Korea-Russia Port Development Cooperation’

MOU to lay the foundation for stimulating Far East Asia port and distribution investment.

Embargo: Release Date: July 10, 2013

Contact Information: Hwang Hee-jeong (044-215-7631/ International Economic Policy Division)

Press Release

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Various cooperation methods will be studied, such as the possibility of using the North Pole Route, an opportunity available to Korea as a ‘permanent observer’ on the Arctic Council.

Strengthening Science-Technology Cooperation

The meeting laid the foundation for further cooperation, including collaborating on research in order to develop science-technology cooperation synergy between Korea and Russia. Both countries agreed to discuss promoting the Ko-Ru Science-Technology Innovation (STI) Forum as a model of bilateral industry-academic science-technology cooperation between Korea and Russia. Both sides agreed to discuss building a ‘Korea-Russia Joint Research Center’ at the Skolkovo Innovation Center in order to promote Korea-Russia joint research cooperation and support the entrance of innovative Korean SMEs into the Russian Market.

Space Technology

It was assessed that the success of the Korean Space Launch Vehicle-1 (also known as the Naro booster) was due to bilateral cooperation between to the two countries and both countries decided to continue to cooperate in the space science sector.

2. The foundation was laid to collaborate on large-scale Russian projects.

Construction and Infrastructure

Progress was made on cooperation systems designed for Korean firms to enter the Russian infrastructure project market. Korea and Russia agreed to sign a ‘Transportation Cooperation’

MOU and pushed for the Transportation Ministers’ Meeting to restart in order to develop distribution infrastructure and promote transportation cooperation. Both countries agreed to quickly finish revising the ‘Railroad Sector Cooperation’ MOU in order to promote

cooperation in the railroad sector and lay a foundation that will support Korean firms in their endeavors to win railroad contracts.

Energy and Natural Resources

Both countries agreed to cooperate with regards to the entrance of Korean firms into the Russian mining industry in order to further its development. Both countries also agreed to work together to improve infrastructure related to railroads and ports in order to encourage the participation of Korean firms in helping to develop the Russian mining industry and gradually introduce coal as an energy source.

3. Both countries decided to continue to cooperate in order to carry out South Korean- North Korean-Russian joint projects and discussed promotion measures.

Connecting the Railroad Network

The foundation for further cooperation between Korea and Russia was laid as both countries

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will carry out feasibility studies regarding the Rajin-Hasan distribution project.

Connecting the Energy Grid

Feasibility studies will also be carried out on projects to link South Korean, North Korean and Russian energy grids.

4. Both sides will actively work to diversify the types of Korean firms that enter

Russian markets, including promising industries such as health and medical care, and SMEs.

Promising Industries

Korea and Russia discussed showcasing examples of cooperation in order to promote the entrance of promising Korean industries, such as health and medical care, education and new and renewable energy, into Russian markets. An agreement was reached to cooperate in the health services, health and medical care, medicine and pharmaceutical sectors, and both sides agreed to work on concluding a Korea-Russia Healthcare Authority MOU. Discussions were held regarding developing mutual university degree recognition systems in order to cooperate with regards to education and study abroad exchanges. There was also bilateral agreement to promote the development of the Russian and Korean tidal, wave, and water power sectors.

SMEs

SME cooperation models will be developed by offering consulting services to encourage matching professionals to SMEs and exchanges for both Korea and Russia.

5. The foundations for long-term cooperation were laid in order to ensure the completion of major long-term agenda items.

Middle to Long-term Vision for Cooperation

Taking into account that this was the first high-level meeting since new administrations took office in both Korea and Russia, methods to encourage cooperation over the long-term were sought. There were proposals for a bilateral long-term cooperation roadmap for Korean and Russian research institutions. Korea will review its talks regarding trade cooperation with the Eurasian Economic Community as a means to strengthen Korea’s strategic relationships.

Knowledge Sharing

There was active discussion regarding cooperation on Korea’s Knowledge Sharing Project (KSP) in order to share policies and experiences, and therefore achieve effective

developmental outcomes. Institutional foundations were laid, such as MOUs, in order to expand development projects in Russia.

Public Systems

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Public sector cooperation, including cooperation regarding procurement, fiscal information and electronic customs systems, was actively proposed in order to take advantage of the opportunity of promoting the entrance of Korean firms into the Russian public sector market.

Evaluation of the Meeting and Future Plans

The meeting provided an opportunity to develop a new cooperative relationship between Korea and Russia from the perspective of promoting both Korea’s new North Korea policy and Russia’s new Far East Asia policy. Korea and Russia were able to cement an optimal partnership that benefits both sides, with Russia furthering its Far East development and succeeding with regards to its new Far East Asia policies and Korea moved one step closer to realizing its creative economy. With a meeting at the G20 Leaders’ Summit to follow, both countries will share their opinions regarding current issues and seek paths for further development. Korea and Russia also had the opportunity to create a middle to long-term roadmap for cooperation between the new Park administration and Russian President Putin’s 3^rd administration.

It is expected that bilateral cooperation on the tasks discussed at this meeting will increase between the two countries owing to the meeting of the two presidents at the G20 Leaders’ Summit. The government plans to carefully monitor the implementation of this meeting’s cooperative agenda to ensure that everything goes according to plan leading up to the meeting of the two presidents at the G-20 Leaders’ Summit.