As ASEAN and Korea are becoming increasingly important to each other, there was a consensus that the two economies need to establish a private sector cooperation channel which will help further enhance trade and investment between them. In this regard, Malaysia proposed that Korea organize the 2014 ASEAN-ROK Business Council during the ASEAN-Korea Foreign Ministers meeting in 2013.

As a result, ASEAN-ROK Business Council took its first step in Busan, Korea, in 2014 in conjunction with the Special Summit. ASEAN-ROK Business Council serves as a private cooperative channel with representatives of economic organizations and SMEs (three members per each nation).

The main activities are strengthening SMEs competitiveness, supporting market expansion, exchanging economic/management information, and making recommendations to the governments.

By bringing together national economic/business organizations representing the business sectors of each country into a single, comprehensive consultative body, the ASEAN-ROK Business Council aims to provide a more efficient and effective venue to discuss business cooperation between Korea and ASEAN.