Turkey and South Korea sign free trade agreement

Economy Minister Zafer Caglayan and South Korean Trade Minister Taeho Bark on Wednesday signed a free trade agreement between the two countries during a ceremony in Ankara. Speaking at the ceremony, Caglayan said that the two countries which had $2 trillion of national income and $1.5 trillion of foreign trade volume with a population exceeding 120 million people took an important step in the aspect of economic integration by signing Free Trade Agreement. "The agreement, which is the first of its kind for Turkey with a Far Eastern nation, will give both sides access to third countries and contribute to the establishment of a framework that will pave the way for trade and investments," Caglayan said, adding that he finds investments made by South Korean businessmen, which amounted to $688 million, low and hopes the new incentive package offered by Turkish government helps attract more investment. For his part, Bark said that relations between Turkey and South Korea recently increased to the strategic partnership level and that the Free Trade Agreement would be a basis to set up a systematic cooperation between the two countries. Bark added that the agreement would boost the commerce between the two countries, and under the Free Trade Agreement, Turkish entrepreneurs would gain important advantages by benefiting from South Korea's free trade agreements s with other countries.