South Korea, Singapore initial free trade accord
Channel News Asia, Singapore
South Korea, Singapore initial free trade accord
17 April 2005
SEOUL : Negotiators from South Korea and Singapore have initialed a free trade agreement which will likely take effect in the second half of this year, the South Korean foreign ministry said.
The pact, which was inked in Singapore on Saturday, will soon be referred to the cabinet for approval before its formal signing and eventual ratification by parliament in June, the ministry said in a statement.
"Given the time needed for its formal signing and ratification, the South Korea-Singapore FTA would be expected to come into effect in the second half of this year," it said.
Under the pact, both sides are to remove tariffs on most goods and services, including South Korean products manufactured at an industrial site in North Korea, it said. The free trade talks began in November 2002.
Singapore is South Korea’s biggest trade partner in Southeast Asia. Bilateral trade jumped 16 percent year-on-year to 10.1 billion dollars in 2004, according to ministry data.
South Korea, the world’s 12th largest economy, has worked hard to strike free trade deals with other nations after concluding its first FTA with Chile which went into effect in April 2004.
South Korea is negotiating separate free trade deals with Japan, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the European Free Trade Association (EFTA).
The foreign ministry said last month that Seoul aims to have at least 15 free trade agreements by the end of 2007 to help boost exports and growth.
– AFP
