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South Korea and Indonesia will hold their second round of free trade talks next
week as part of an effort to further boost bilateral trade volume, Seoul's trade
ministry said Wednesday.
During the two-day meeting that will start
Monday in Jakarta, negotiators from both sides will discuss guidelines for
negotiations and other details, according to the ministry.
In March,
South Korean President Lee Myung-bak and Indonesian President Susilo Bambang
Yudhoyono announced the launch of talks concerning a so-called comprehensive
economic partnership agreement (CEPA), which is equivalent to a free trade
agreement.
In 2011, South Korea and Indonesia held three rounds of
preliminary talks under an agreement to conduct a joint study into the
possibility of a bilateral free trade pact.
Indonesia is South Korea's
eighth-largest trading partner with bilateral trade reaching US$30.7 billion
last year. South Korea's shipments to Indonesia increased 52.4 percent on-year
to $13.56 billion in 2011, with imports from Southeast Asian countries gaining
23.1 percent to $17.21 billion, according to government data.
South
Korea has a free trade agreement (FTA) with the 10-member Association of
Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) that includes Indonesia. The country has also
been seeking bilateral pacts with some ASEAN members to further boost trade
within the region.
Indonesia is the most populous ASEAN member and has
rich natural resources.
South Korea, a resource-scarce nation that
relies mainly on exports for economic growth, has been aggressively seeking free
trade accords with foreign countries to expand what Lee calls the country's
"economic territory."
As the fourth-largest Asian economy, South Korea
has eight FTAs already in effect, including those with the United States, the
European Union and India, and is in negotiations with seven other nations,
including Turkey, Canada, Mexico, Australia and New Zealand.