South Korea seeks FTA with India
Korea Times
South Korea Seeks FTA With India
By Ryu Jin
Korea Times Correspondent
13 December 2005
KUALA LUMPUR - President Roh Moo-hyun Tuesday held back-to-back summits with his counterparts from India and New Zealand on the sidelines of a regional conference here to discuss ways to strengthen South Korea’s bilateral ties with those countries.
In a half-hour meeting with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Roh proposed South Korea and India enter into negotiations for a free trade deal as early as possible, according to officials who attended the summit.
The suggestion came just after South Korea signed a pact on free trade at the end of a summit with the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) earlier in the day.
Since Roh’s visit to New Delhi October last year, the two countries have launched a joint study group to conduct three rounds of sessions to analyze potentiality in the fields of bilateral economic relations and trade in goods and services and cooperation in investment.
South Korean officials in the joint study group said they have looked at the feasibility of a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) between the two nations and will put the result into the final report to both governments.
A kind of free trade agreement (FTA), the CEPA comprises not only trade in goods but cooperation in service and investment areas.
An FTA and a CEPA, though it is true there is a subtle difference of nuance, are all but the same,'' an official said.We expect the two countries would begin negotiations in earnest early next year.’’
Bilateral trade between South Korea and India has increased in recent years as the Indian market has grown fast. Roh and Singh agreed at last year’s summit to expand their economic cooperation.
Roh also held a summit with New Zealand’s Prime Minister Helen Clark to discuss ways to improve the friendly relationship between the two countries, especially in economic fields.
Clark, who won a historic third term for her country’s top official post, visited South Korea last month to attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum in Pusan.
Roh also talked about the North Korean nuclear problem with Singh and Clark, who gave full support to South Korea’s efforts to resolve the long-standing international impasse in a peaceful manner, a presidential aide said.
