Vice Chairman Kim Chang-bum attends B20 Summit in Washington as Korea's business representative

Federation conveys Korean industry's positions on trade, energy and digital economy

Korea to begin full-scale preparations for 2028 G20 and B20 presidency starting next year

Kim holds private meeting with Gov. Wes Moore, a rising Democratic presidential candidate

Kim Chang-bum, vice chairman of the Korea Federation of Industrialists. [Korea Federation of Industrialists]
Kim Chang-bum, vice chairman of the Korea Federation of Industrialists. [Korea Federation of Industrialists]

The Korea Federation of Industrialists has been promoting South Korea's hosting of the 2028 G20 summit to major business organizations around the world ahead of the event.

The federation also met with Maryland Governor Wes Moore, widely regarded as a leading Democratic candidate for the 2028 US presidential election, to discuss ways to strengthen economic ties between South Korea and the United States.

According to the federation, the US Chamber of Commerce held the B20 Summit — the official private-sector advisory body to the G20 — in Washington from Dec. 9 to 11, ahead of the G20 Miami Leaders' Summit scheduled for December.

The B20 brings together top business leaders and heads of economic organizations from around the world. It operates task forces covering key areas including trade, energy, economic growth and the digital economy, and submits annual policy recommendations directly to G20 leaders.

The federation attended as the representative of South Korea's business community. It advocated for Korean industry's positions across the four main task forces — trade, innovation, energy and economic growth — to ensure they were reflected in the B20's policy recommendations. Those recommendations were adopted at this year's B20.

Vice Chairman Kim Chang-bum took the stage at the "B20 Troika" session during the main plenary on the final day of the event. He was joined by Suzanne Clark, president of the US Chamber of Commerce, representing this year's G20 chair, and Rain Newton-Smith, director general of the Confederation of British Industry, representing the United Kingdom, which holds the G20 presidency in 2027. South Korea will assume the presidency in 2028.

At the session, Kim said the federation would "serve as a solid bridge connecting the business communities of advanced and emerging economies, drawing on the strengths of the Korean economy."

Kim also proposed that B20 policy recommendations be recast as a "practical model" incorporating concrete incentives and support measures so they translate into voluntary corporate investment and action. He added that building a system to ensure the long-term continuity of multilateral trade agendas and setting content priorities were urgent tasks.

Speaking in his capacity as the incoming B20 chair for 2028, Kim outlined Korea's role in future B20 proceedings and ways to strengthen coordination with the G20, saying the federation would "begin full-scale preparations for the successful hosting of the 2028 G20 and B20 starting next year."

Kim also held a private meeting with Governor Moore, who won reelection in the Nov. 3 US midterm elections. Moore, Maryland's first Black governor, has emerged as one of the Democratic Party's potential presidential candidates for the election two years away following his reelection. He currently serves as chair of the National Governors Association.

Kim also met in succession with leaders of major business organizations from other countries, including Anindya Bakrie, chairman of the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and Innes Willox, CEO of the Australian Industry Group, pitching South Korea's 2028 B20 presidency to each.

The federation was also invited to various networking events bringing together economic leaders from major countries, including a "Strategic Industry Dialogue" hosted by the Federation of German Industries and centered on G7 business communities.


joze@heraldcorp.com