'D-100 Days APEC' SOM3 Opens Next Week in Incheon... World Ministers Head to Korea

[Financial News] The third Senior Officials' Meeting (SOM3) and related meetings of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) 2025 will be held in Incheon on the 26th. According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on the 23rd, the 'third Senior Officials' Meeting and related meetings (SOM3)', a pre-event of the Gyeongju APEC opening at the end of October, will take place in Incheon from the 26th of this month to August 15 for three weeks.
The third Senior Officials' Meeting holds strategic significance in the annual discussion flow of APEC. It will review the implementation status of work plans and cooperation tasks set by each working group in the first half of the year. It is the final consultation stage to derive concrete results at the APEC summit at the end of October. During this SOM3 period, over 200 working meetings, workshops, and side events, including the four major committees such as the Committee on Trade and Investment (CTI), the Economic and Technical Cooperation Committee (SCE), the Economic Committee (EC), and the Budget and Management Committee (BMC), will be held, and more than 4,500 delegates and secretariat officials are expected to visit Incheon.
Additionally, during this Senior Officials' Meeting, discussions among members on 'AI cooperation' and 'response to demographic changes', which are being promoted as key achievements of this year's summit, are also expected.
In particular, following APEC's tradition of emphasizing private sector linkage and partnership, a public-private dialogue related to AI and demographic changes will be held from August 11 to 12. It is expected to be an opportunity to hear voices from the field from experts and entrepreneurs from our country and APEC members and to share our country's policies on AI and demographic changes such as low birthrate and aging population.
During this meeting period, various ministerial meetings in each field, such as the Digital and AI Ministerial Meeting (August 4-6), the Food Security Ministerial Meeting (August 9-10), the Women's Economic Meeting (August 12), and the High-Level Anti-Corruption Dialogue (July 31-August 1), will be held, and various events where the private sector can participate will be prepared. A high-level forum on disaster management to discuss cooperation in responding to natural disasters in the Asia-Pacific region, such as wildfires, floods, and earthquakes, will also be held.
Before SOM3, the government held a meeting on the 21st presided over by Yun Seong-mi, the chair of the APEC Senior Officials' Meeting, to check the preparation status of each subsidiary meeting and ministerial meeting. The government plans to report the discussions at this Senior Officials' Meeting and related meetings and the APEC achievements prepared so far to the October summit and solidly prepare to leave them as a legacy of APEC 2025.
Meanwhile, in the second half of the year, the Energy Ministerial Meeting (August 27-28, Busan), the Small and Medium Enterprises Ministerial Meeting (September 1-5, Jeju), the Health and Economic High-Level Meeting (September 15-16, Seoul), the Finance Ministerial Meeting (October 21-22, Incheon), the Structural Reform Ministerial Meeting (October 22-23, Incheon), and the High-Level Dialogue on Cultural Industry (August 26-28) are scheduled. rainman@fnnews.com Kim Kyung-soo

rainman@fnnews.com Kim Kyung-soo