• Commerce between Korea and Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) expected to reach a record $70 billion this year

SEOUL – Korea and the Inter-American Development Bank Group (IDB Group) are commemorating 20 years of partnership this year, as trade between the country and Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) is projected to reach a record $70 billion. The milestones took center stage at the 7th Korea–LAC Business Summit in Seoul, a two-day event co-organised 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.

Participants included IDB Group president Ilan Goldfajn; Korean deputy prime minister Yun Cheol Koo; and KOTRA CEO and president Kyung-sung Kang.

Sessions explored critical themes such as regional value chains, energy transition, critical minerals, digital innovation, public-private partnerships, and financial tools for development. Panels highlighted Korea–LAC collaboration, while IDB Invest and IDB Lab showcased capital mobilisation strategies and early-stage innovation. The event also included a career fair connecting Korean professionals to job opportunities across the IDB Group.

The summit also launched the BID for the Americas program in Korea, which connects companies from the IDB Group’s non-borrowing member countries to opportunities in Latin America and the Caribbean. Special sessions guided Korean companies on how to participate in procurement for IDB Group-financed projects and leverage digital tools for trade and investment.

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 $13 billion to a projected $70 billion in 2025, according to a new joint report, Two Decades, One Partnership: Korea and the IDB Group Delivering at Scale, launched at the event.

Korean exports — including cars, electronics, and machinery — have expanded rapidly across Latin America, while the region’s copper, lithium, fuels, and agricultural products have become essential to Korea’s economy. Today, Latin America supplies 16.5 percent of Korea’s agri-food imports, and Korean firms are investing in manufacturing hubs in Mexico and Brazil, electronics in Central America, and renewable energy and critical minerals in Argentina and Chile.

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 $2 billion 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. It also calls for improving regulatory and digital compatibility, streamlining logistics, and developing co-financing mechanisms to attract investment and boost value-added production.

Launched in 2007, the Korea–LAC Business Summit is led by the IDB Group in collaboration with MOEF, KEXIM, and KOTRA.