The Republic of Korea (RoK) expects to conclude a free trade deal (FTA) with the European Union (EU) next month after both sides failed to resolve several contentious issues at last week’s minister-level meeting, local media reported.
“We expect both sides to meet again next month to iron out differences on duty drawbacks and other remaining issues,” the RoK’s Deputy Trade Minister Lee Hey-min was quoted by Yonhap news agency as saying on Apr. 6.
The exact date and venue for another minister-level meeting is not yet decided, Lee said.
RoK Trade Minister Kim Jong-hoon and his EU counterpart Catherine Ashton met in London last week to narrow differences on the issues, which include provisions on a so-called duty drawback scheme and rules of origin, but failed to wrap up the agreement.
EU stood as the RoK’s second-largest trading partner after China last year, with two-way trade reaching over 90 billion USD. According to the Korea Institute for International Economic Policy, if the agreement is finalised, the RoK’s exports are expected to increase by 11 billion USD, and gross domestic product by 3.08 percent.