The Inter-American Development Bank Group (IDB Group) says it is commemorating 20 years of partnership with Korea this year, as trade between the country and Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) is projected to reach a record US$70 billion.
The issue was among matters discussed at the two day seventh Korea-LAC Business Summit, co-organized by the IDB Group, Korea’s Ministry of Economy and Finance (MOEF), the Export-Import Bank of Korea (KEXIM), and the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA).
The summit brought together hundreds of firms from Korea and Latin America and the Caribbean for over 600 one-on-one business meetings, alongside public officials, investors, and development partners.
The summit also launched the BID for the Americas programme in Korea, which connects companies from the IDB Group’s non-borrowing member countries to opportunities in Latin America and the Caribbean.
Since joining the IDB Group in 2005, Korea has become a key development partner for Latin America and the Caribbean. Bilateral trade in goods and services has grown over fivefold from US$13 billion to a projected US$70 billion in 2025, according to a new joint report, Two Decades, One Partnership: Korea and the IDB Group Delivering at Scale.
Korean exports, including cars, electronics, and machinery , have expanded rapidly across Latin America and the Caribbean, while the region’s copper, lithium, fuels, and agricultural products have become essential to Korea’s economy.
Through the Korea–IDB Group partnership, more than four million households in Latin America and the Caribbean have gained access to electricity, water, sanitation, and digital services , supported by over two billion US dollars in Korea and IDB Group co-financing for infrastructure, connectivity, and clean energy.
At the Summit, the IDB Group and Korean partners also announced a new cooperation package to expand collaboration in five priority areas of artificial intelligence, energy, critical minerals, infrastructure, and talent mobility.
The new joint report identifies three key steps to accelerate progress: lowering trade costs, expanding preferential trade agreements, and coinvesting in value chains for critical minerals, resilient energy, digital transformation, and agri-food industries. (CMC)
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