S. Korea, India adopt final framework on FTA talks
Friday January 6, 2006
Asia Pulse
S. Korea, India Adopt Final Framework On FTA Talks
SEOUL, Jan 6 Asia Pulse - South Korea and India adopted a final framework Friday to begin talks on a free trade agreement, Seoul officials said.
The final framework, mapped out by a joint study group, will be submitted to each government and calls for concluding the FTA talks within two years after the submission, South Korea’s trade ministry said in a statement.
The statement didn’t give information on when the framework will be submitted to each government.
Last December, South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh agreed to start the FTA talks this year on the sidelines of a regional summit in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Choi Soo-jin, a ministry spokeswoman, said she has no idea about a timetable regarding the FTA talks with India. Repeated calls to Shin Seung-jin, head of the trade ministry’s trade and investment promotion bureau, weren’t answered.
On Wednesday, the mass-circulation Dong-a Ilbo reported that South Korea and India will start the FTA talks next month, citing unnamed ministry officials.
According to Friday’s ministry statement, South Korea and India agreed to seal a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement aimed at promoting bilateral trade including services, investment and economic cooperation, as well as goods.
Details of the final framework weren’t immediately available.
Between 2001 and 2005, bilateral trade between South Korea and India jumped almost 1.5 times to US$6.39 billion, according to data posted on the ministry’s Web site.
(Yonhap)
