Posted on 02 Apr 2013
A free trade agreement between South Korea and Turkey will go into effect in May, the latest in a wide-ranging series of trade pacts negotiated by the export-dependent South, officials said Monday.
The pact will remove import tariffs on nearly all products of both countries within the next 10 years, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.
It deals only with products as the two nations have yet to complete negotiations on services and investment, the ministry said.
The deal was signed in August last year but its implementation had been delayed pending approval by Turkey's parliament.
In 2012 South Korea exported goods worth $4.6 billion to Turkey and imported items worth $672 million.
South Korea has already signed free trade deals with the United States, the European Union, India, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, Singapore, Peru, Chile and the European Free Trade Association.
It is also in free trade talks with China, its biggest export market.
