SEOUL-- South Korea and France were set to hold a bilateral industrial cooperation committee Wednesday to discuss ways to promote industrial and supply chain cooperation between the two countries as well as pending trade issues, Seoul's industry ministry said.
The committee, the 20th of its kind, was scheduled to be held in Korea's administrative city of Sejong, attended by Vice Trade Minister Park Jung-sung and Thomas Courbe, director general for enterprises at the French ministry of economy and finance.
In the meeting, the two sides are expected to explore ways to bolster bilateral cooperation in critical minerals, electric vehicles (EVs), batteries and other advanced industries, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Resources.
The ministry said Park will address Seoul's concerns that the European Union's (EU) foreign subsidies regulation and its new steel safeguard plan as well as France's EV subsidy scheme could become trade barriers between Korea and the Europe.
Recently, the Seoul government has raised concerns over the EU's investigation into the Czech Republic's nuclear power plant project, secured by the Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power Co., and the EU's plan to reduce tariff-free quotas on foreign steel.
