Korea, Colombia seek high-level FTA
Korea Herald | 10 December 2009
Korea, Colombia seek high-level FTA
Korea and Colombia agreed Wednesday to seal a high-level free trade agreement (FTA) covering services, investment and other sectors, Seoul’s trade ministry said, according to the Yonhap News.
After ending their first round of negotiations in Seoul that started Monday, both sides agreed to exchange draft texts before holding their second round of negotiations in Bogota in March.
At the negotiations, Kim Hae-yong, chief of the ministry’s FTA negotiations bureau, led the South Korean delegation, while Santiago Pardo, a senior Colombian official for FTA affairs, represented the South American country.
Their bilateral trade reached $1.23 billion in 2008, with Korea’s exports to the South American country reaching $1.09 billion, according to the ministry.
Korea’s main export items include cars and electronic goods, and it imports coffee and resources such as coal and nickel from Colombia.
Seoul is seeking to intensify economic cooperation with Latin American countries in a bid to diversify its trading partners and encourage its firms to advance into the region’s resource-rich markets. Korea has an FTA with Chile that took effect in April 2004, and is also in free trade negotiations with Mexico and Peru.
