S. Korea, ASEAN to sign FTA on investment during summit

JEJU ISLAND, South Korea, May 31 (Yonhap) -- South Korea and the Association of
Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries plan to sign a free trade deal on
investment during their upcoming special summit talks, signaling bilateral
business ties will expand further down the road amid toughening global economic
conditions, officials said Sunday.
Heads of states from 10 ASEAN members will attend the summit to be held on the
southern resort island of Jeju, an event intended to mark the 20th anniversary of
the "dialogue partnership." The two-day summit will kick off on Monday for a
two-day run.
"South Korea and ASEAN members will sign a free trade agreement (FTA) on
investment at the scheduled summit on June 2," the Ministry of Strategy and
Finance said in a statement. "This will complete more than four years of
negotiations on the South Korea-ASEAN FTA."
Following the first round of negotiations that started in February 2005, South
Korea and ASEAN member countries had pushed for FTAs in three areas --
merchandise, service and investment.
Both sides already put into effect free trade deals to lower tariffs in the
merchandise and service sectors on June 1, 2007 and May this year, respectively,
while talks in the investment area were wrapped up in April and await an official
signing by both sides.
South Korea's investment in ASEAN countries amounted to US$5.9 billion in 2008,
with ASEAN's investment in South Korea standing at $986 million. An FTA deal on
investment is expected to increase bilateral economic and business ties between
the two regions further.
The ASEAN member countries are Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia,
Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand, the Philippines and Vietnam. ASEAN has a population
of 590 million with combined gross domestic product amounting to $1.28 trillion,
the single largest economic block in the world.
"The FTA with ASEAN marks the first one that South Korea has signed with a large
economic bloc in the world, paving the way for expanded trade, investment and
personal exchanges," the ministry said.
kokobj@yna.co.kr
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