[DigitalToday reporter Daegeon Seok] Yeo Han-ku, head of trade negotiations at the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, will attend the Davos forum. The ministry said on Jan. 19 that Yeo will attend the 2026 World Economic Forum annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland.

This year's Davos forum is themed "The Spirit of Dialogue" and will draw leaders from more than 70 countries, global companies and opinion leaders. Participants will discuss global issues including strengthening cooperation, revitalising global trade and investment, and finding new growth engines. The five global challenges are cooperation in an era of intensifying competition, discovering new growth engines, investing in talent, scaling innovation and applying it responsibly, and building prosperity within planetary limits.

Yeo will join as a speaker in sessions on revitalising next-generation global trade, expanding multilateral trade and investment, and growth strategies for emerging countries such as ASEAN. He will meet executives from global companies including Merck, Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Maersk to discuss expanding investment in South Korea and ways to cooperate.

He will also attend an informal WTO trade ministers' meeting on Jan. 22 and lead discussions on incorporating the Investment Facilitation for Development (IFD) agreement into the WTO system. The meeting will discuss the direction of WTO reform and ways to deliver outcomes around the 14th WTO Ministerial Conference to be held in Cameroon in March.

On the same day, he will host an IFD breakfast meeting to discuss strategies for putting on the MC14 agenda and reaching agreement on incorporating the Investment Facilitation for Development Agreement (IFDA) as Annex 4 to the WTO. He will hold bilateral meetings with trade ministers from major countries including the European Union, Argentina and Switzerland to discuss resolving difficulties faced by South Korean companies entering overseas markets and ways to upgrade the trade network.

Yeo said he would use the Davos forum, a venue for political and economic discussions among global leaders, to inform the international community about South Korea's return with the resilience of democracy. He said he would contribute to restoring the international economic and trade order facing complex challenges by demonstrating global leadership as a middle-power country now drawing the world's attention. He said he plans to focus on trade activities that put the national interest first, including attracting global investment and addressing pending trade issues on the sidelines of Davos.