South Korea, India to sign bilateral trade agreement
August 6th, 2009 - 2:04 pm ICT by IANSSeoul, Aug 6 (DPA) South Korea will sign a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) with India Friday to increase bilateral economic cooperation, a South Korean Foreign Ministry official said Thursday.
The signing ceremony will take place with the visiting Indian commerce minister in Seoul Friday morning, the ministry official said, finishing a three-year-long negotiating session to boost trade between the two countries.
“We expect the CEPA to be a catalyst to further boost our business ties with India,” said Choi Gyung Rim, policy director of South Korean foreign ministry.
The South Korean foreign ministry official said he expects the agreement to become effective sometime around next January after Seoul gets final approval from the South Korean National Assembly by the end of October.
India already got final approval June 2 from its cabinet for the agreement with South Korea, the ministry director said.
The CEPA is similar to a free trade agreement (FTA), with a comprehensive coverage of trade in goods and services and investments, as well as intellectual property rights.
Under the CEPA, India will eliminate duties on 75 percent of products imported from South Korea on a custom-value basis during the eight years after the CEPA becomes effective. South Korea will remove duties on 93 percent of products from India during the same period.
Although the tariff-removal rate is slower than the provision under most other free trade agreements, the deal with India is still expected to boost bilateral trade by up to $3.3 billion, up from the 2008 total of $15.6 billion, the state-run Korea Institute for International Economic Policy forecast.
The agreement is forecast to benefit South Korean shipment of auto parts, while it benefits Indian service sector and service workers to work for South Korean companies.
The CEPA enables the duty-free export of 108 items that are made in the jointly-operated industrial park of Kaesong in North Korea.
Both countries agreed to set aside the farm and forestry sector as a “low-level” of market opening to protect vulnerable farmers and forestry operators.
“Among 1,466 duty items of farm and fishery items, we excluded 714 items from the CEPA coverage. Excluded items are rice, pork, chicken and most tropical fruit items,” the ministry director said.
- India, South Korea sign trade pact - Aug 08, 2009
- 'India not gaining from trade pact with South Korea' - Jun 24, 2011
- India, South Korea aim to double trade in 5 years - Feb 22, 2011
- U.S.-Korean joint military drill announced during Antony's Seoul visit - Sep 03, 2010
- India-Japan conclude negotiations on CEPA, but agreement not to be signed - Oct 22, 2010
- India, South Korea target doubling trade by 2014 - Jan 20, 2011
- South Korean Parliament ratifies free trade deal with India - Nov 06, 2009
- India, Korea trade set to double in next five years - Feb 22, 2011
- India-Japan economic pact comes into force - Aug 01, 2011
- PM in Seoul next week for n-security summit - Mar 21, 2012
- Trade pact causes South Korea-India trade to nearly double - Apr 06, 2010
- CII welcomes India-Japan comprehensive economic partnership agreement - Feb 16, 2011
- India,South Korea draw close; step up business, military ties (Roundup) - Mar 25, 2012
- South Korea's farming population dips below three million - Feb 03, 2012
- India to negotiate free trade agreements with Indonesia, Thailand soon - Oct 28, 2010
Tags: bilateral trade agreement, business ties, cepa, commerce minister, economic cooperation, economic partnership agreement, free export, free trade agreements, indian commerce, intellectual property rights, international economic policy, korea institute, korean national assembly, ministry director, ministry official, policy director, signing ceremony, south korea, south korean companies, value basis