By Ryu Jin and Seo Jee-yeon
Staff Reporters




VIENTIANE - South Korea concluded a free trade agreement (FTA) with Singapore Monday during a meeting between President Roh Moo-hyun and Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong here in Laos.

It is the second bilateral trade deal for South Korea after the first FTA with Chile, which came into effect last April.

The agreement will take effect after it is ratified by the parliaments of the two countries.

Roh and Lee made an official announcement on the conclusion of the bilateral FTA during their meeting on the sidelines of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)+3 summit involving 10 Southeast Asian and three Northeast Asian nations.

According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MOFAT) in Seoul, the bilateral agreement was practically concluded on Sunday, when trade ministers of the two countries met in Laos to discuss some sticking points in the months of negotiations.

It added the deal will likely serve as a launching pad for Seoul to expand trade and investment with Southeast Asian markets as the Korea-Chile FTA has been serving with South American markets.

Compared with the pact with Chile, the South Korea-Singapore FTA is far more comprehensive as it contains some additional areas of cooperation, including finance and electronics.

``The two ministers virtually agreed on nine broad areas, such as the mutual recognition of quality standards for goods and the protection of intellectual property rights,’’ a MOFAT official said.

In particular, the agreement includes a measure to boost an inter-Korean economic project, as Singapore agreed to offer products made at an industrial complex being built in the North Korean border city of Kaesong equal status as those made in South Korea.

This provision is expected to provide an export channel for companies in the complex.

Both sides also agreed to implement emergency safeguards in case the market share of any product from the other country rises sharply.

In addition, the deal touches on expanding cooperation in the financial, logistics and service markets, in which South Korea is less developed than Singapore.

The nation’s tourism sector could also benefit from the FTA by promoting the boom for Korean cultural products in Singapore, the official said, adding that the FTA with Singapore could firm up similar talks with other trading partners.

Seoul is currently negotiating FTAs with Japan, ASEAN and Mexico, and also hopes to eventually sign pacts with other countries including the United States.

The trade deal with Singapore, the nation’s 10th-largest trading partner, with two-way commerce being tallied at $7.65 billion in 2002, was first brought to the fore in September 1999 at the suggestion of then Singaporean Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong.

Policymakers from both countries subsequently agreed to start FTA talks in 2004 so it could be concluded by the end of this year.

The FTA talks with the city state could be wrapped up within a year as there were no fundamental issues like agriculture blocking the negotiations.

Seoul had difficulty in getting legislative approval of the FTA with Chile due to massive opposition from farmers and anti-globalization activists.

jyseo@korreatimes.co.kr

jinryu@koreatimes.co.kr