S. Korea, Colombia to start FTA talks this year
Yonhap News, Seoul
S. Korea, Colombia to start FTA talks this year
By Lee Chi-dong
3 September 2009
SEOUL (Yonhap) — South Korea and Colombia agreed Thursday to begin talks on a free trade agreement (FTA) within the year, Seoul’s foreign ministry said after a meeting between their foreign ministers here.
The two sides wrapped up a five-month joint study on the feasibility of the FTA in late August.
"The ministers agreed to make efforts to get the two countries to start official FTA talks within the year on the basis of the results of the study," ministry spokesman Moon Tae-young said.
The Latin American nation has emerged as an attractive investment destination for South Korean companies that last year alone won contracts to develop nine oil fields there. Korea National Oil also acquired a 50 percent stake in Peru Petro-Tech in February.
"Foreign Minister Yu Myung-hwan asked for the Colombian government’s support for South Korean companies’ bid to take part in the construction of plants and social overhead capital projects," Moon said.
South Korea has signed FTAs with Chile, Singapore, the European Free Trade Association — comprising Switzerland, Norway, Ireland and Lichtenstein — the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, and the United States. The FTA with the U.S. has not yet been ratified by the two countries’ legislative bodies.
