Mercosur FTA to boost Korea’s GDP by 2% - study
Chosun Ilbo | 5 November 2007
Mercosur FTA to Boost Korea’s GDP by 2% - Study
A free trade agreement with the South American trade bloc Mercosur could increase Korea’s gross domestic product by up to two percent, a study by the two sides has found. The Foreign Ministry said the joint FTA study was adopted at a Korea-Mercosur policy meeting in Montevideo, Uruguay late last month.
Mercosur groups regional powers Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay, with Venezuela in the process of joining.
The study forecast that an FTA between the two would increase Korea’s GDP by 0.17 to 2 percent and Mercosur’s GDP by 0.02 to 2.74 percent.
Korea would likely see growth in exports of electronic products, mobile phones, LCDs, medical products and textiles, while the common market would likely benefit from greater exports of agricultural products such as beef, orange juice and soybeans.
Manufactured goods such as electronics, chemicals, machinery and textiles currently account for 97.8 percent of Korea’s exports to the common market. Farm goods and raw materials such as mineral resources account for 86.7 percent of Korea’s imports from Mercosur.
