Koo Yun-cheol, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Ministry of Economy and Finance, urged stronger regional cooperation at a multilateral international economic meeting to respond to rising uncertainty from the Middle East war.
Koo, the deputy prime minister, attended the ASEAN+3 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors' Meeting in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, on the 3rd and said, "The Middle East war has increased economic uncertainty in the region," adding, "The importance of a cooperation framework for crisis response is growing."
Regarding Korea's economic situation, Koo said, "Growth was 1.7% in the first quarter, and in March industrial production, consumption, and investment all increased," adding, "As policy effects become visible, the recovery trend is continuing."
However, Koo noted that "the Middle East war is a major risk factor," and said the government is responding with measures including the implementation of a price cap and the formulation of a 2.62 trillion won supplementary budget.
On financial cooperation, Koo stressed strengthening the regional safety net. He said, "The role of the Chiang Mai Initiative Multilateralization is important," proposing institutional improvements and stronger surveillance capacity at the ASEAN+3 Macroeconomic Research Office (AMRO).
On the Asian Bond Markets Initiative, he said the scope of discussions should be expanded to reflect environmental changes such as digitalization. He added that at the Digital Bond Market Forum led by Korea, discussions will also proceed on transactions of tokenized carbon emission permits.
At the preceding Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors' Meeting among Korea, China, and Japan, Koo also emphasized strengthening trilateral cooperation to counter the growing downside risks to the economy from the Middle East war.