Korea trade talks encouraging: Crean
A fourth round of free trade negotiations between Australia and South Korea will start on Monday in Seoul.
Negotiations with Australia’s third largest export market began in May 2009.
“There are hard negotiations ahead, but the progress so far has been very encouraging,” Trade minister Simon Crean said in statement.
Australia would continue to push on with core access issues of agriculture and services in latest round of talks.
Australia exports to Korea already are worth more than $21 billion a year.
A feasibility study suggests a free trade agreement with South Korea would boost the Australian economy by $30 billion over 14 years.
Australia is also involved in similar discussions with its two biggest export markets, China and Japan.
At the same time, the first negotiating round of the Trans-Pacific Partnership will start in Melbourne on Monday.
The partnership is part of Apec’s long term goal of a free trade area for the Asia-Pacific.
The nations involved in the partnership are Australia, the United States, New Zealand, Singapore, Chile, Brunei, Peru and Vietnam.
Their combined gross domestic product is $17.7 trillion.
Negotiations will explore new approaches to the obstacles facing businesses in the region, especially in the emerging areas of international trade, including services, e-commerce and green technology.
Category: Korea
