Monday, January 26, 2004
South Korea, Singapore to begin talks on free-trade deal
Associated Press South Korea, January 26
South Korea and Singapore will launch negotiations this week on a free trade pact between the two Asian countries, officials said Monday.
The three-day talks will start on Tuesday in Singapore, the Foreign Affairs and Trade Ministry said in a statement.
In October, the two countries had said they hoped to conclude a deal before 2005. Trade ministers from both sides have also stressed that the deal would provide access to each other's regions, not just their domestic markets.
South Korea is Singapore's 9th largest trading partner, while Singapore is South Korea's 10th largest trading partner, and its main partner in Southeast Asia. The two countries' bilateral trade amounted to $7.8 billion in 2003.
South Korea signed its first free-trade agreement in February, with Chile. But parliament has not approved the pact yet because of political bickering and protests by Korean farmers, who fear it would flood the local market with cheap imports and threaten their livelihood.
Ahn Ho-young, director-general at South Korea's Foreign Ministry, will lead a 50-member delegation to Singapore. The delegation will consist of officials from the finance and economy, energy and agriculture ministries. Singapore, which has signed free-trade agreements with the United States, Japan, Australia and New Zealand, is negotiating with several other countries on deals.
© Hindustan Times Ltd. 2004.