President Lee Holds Summit with Singapore Prime Minister
Joint Declaration on Launching FTA Upgrade Negotiations Announced
Cooperation to Expand in Supply Chains, Aviation MRO, and More
During his state visit to Singapore, President Lee Jaemyung agreed with Singaporean Prime Minister Lawrence Wong to launch negotiations to upgrade the Korea-Singapore Free Trade Agreement (FTA), and signed five memoranda of understanding (MOUs) to expand cooperation in future-oriented sectors such as artificial intelligence (AI) and digital technologies, science and technology, and small modular reactors (SMRs).
President Lee Jae-myung is speaking at the summit meeting with Prime Minister Lawrence Wong of Singapore, held on the 2nd at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs building in Singapore. Photo by Yonhap News
The “Joint Declaration on the Launch of Korea-Singapore FTA Upgrade Negotiations,” adopted at the summit held at the Singapore Ministry of Foreign Affairs building on March 2, outlines plans to advance trade cooperation by improving the agreement in four key areas: supply chains, green economy, trade facilitation, and aviation maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO). The objective is to modernize standards in response to the rapidly changing trade environment and support Korean companies’ expansion into ASEAN markets.
Through the science and technology cooperation MOU, the two countries will strengthen policy sharing and personnel exchanges in fields such as quantum technology, SMRs, and space and satellite technologies, and promote the operation of a joint science and technology committee as a framework for cooperation. An MOU was also signed for cooperation in AI and digital technologies for public safety, aimed at expanding information and knowledge sharing on AI policy in public safety, and exploring ways to support and foster collaboration among promising companies in the public safety and security industries from both Korea and Singapore.
President Lee Jae-myung and Singapore Prime Minister Lawrence Wong shake hands on the 2nd at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs building in Singapore ahead of the summit. Photo by Yonhap News Agency
A strengthened cooperation MOU was also signed in the field of intellectual property (IP). The main agenda includes transforming IP administrative services through AI, establishing legal and institutional frameworks to protect AI-related intellectual property, and expanding the use of AI throughout the entire process of securing and protecting IP. The renewed climate and environment cooperation has led to an MOU on the joint utilization of environmental satellites. The two countries will continue to share environmental satellite data and collaborate on data verification, air quality research, and policy applications.
In the energy sector, a separate MOU on SMR cooperation has been prepared. This MOU aims to strengthen the foundation for collaboration through joint development of business models for small modular reactors (i-SMR), workforce training, and information sharing. The signing of these documents is seen as a strategic move to not only modernize trade norms, but also to broaden the scope of cooperation in strategic fields such as AI, digital technologies, nuclear power, space, and environmental data-thereby elevating the bilateral relationship to that of a "future industry alliance."
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