President Moon Jae-in on March 21 announced his vision for innovating the financial sector and fostering new industries at the Seoul headquarters of Industrial Bank of Korea. "Regulatory innovation for virtual banks is part of the process to allow innovation while firmly abiding by the basic principle of separation between banking and commerce. This will be a new example of innovation in regulatory methodology," he said. "Deregulation of virtual banks will lead to innovative growth in the financial sector and new industries, which will again set a new course for Korea’s economic growth." Some 110 professionals from startups, publically listed companies and financial businesses came to hear the president speak, followed by a discussion.

President Moon Jae-in and Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen on March 15 agreed to expand bilateral economic cooperation in areas such as finance, infrastructure and agriculture.

President Moon Jae-in and Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad on March 13 pledged to reach a bilateral free trade agreement and conclude negotiations toward that goal by year’s end.  In a joint news conference at the prime minister’s office in Putrajaya, Malaysia, both leaders said they also discussed boosting cooperation in future vehicles, information technology (IT), smart industries, medicine and the halal market.  President Moon said in his opening statement, "I look forward to the success of Malaysia's Look East Policy and our New Southern Policy, two initiatives that will bring peace and prosperity to the citizens of our global community. Next year will mark 60 years of diplomatic relations between our two countries, and I hope to elevate our relations to the level of a strategic partnership on this occasion."