Turkey, South Korea sign framework agreement for trade

Turkey and South Korea signed a framework deal on Monday to establish a free trade regime between them. Economy Minister Zafer Caglayan put his signature on the Joint Declaration for the Turkey-South Korea Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with South Korean Trade Minister Park Tae-ho in the Far Eastern country's presidential residence, the Blue House. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and South Korean President Lee Myung-bak were also present at the ceremony. "After the preparations are completed, our ministers will come together and sign the necessary agreements in June at the latest," said Erdogan, noting that it will be a great opportunity for the two countries to forge much stronger economic relations with each other. "This agreement will be a great encouragement, particularly for the development of trade in goods. Similarly, investments by South Korea's well-known brands Posco and Hyundai will be much more profitable and competitive thanks to the FTA," he added. The bilateral trade volume between the two countries was at some $7 billion last year, most of which were South Korean exports to Turkey. Turkish exports to South Korea were only around $500 million in 2011. Erdogan made clear that he was not happy with the current weight of commercial relations with the Far Eastern nation. "$7 billion falls short of representing our [trade] potential. I believe that as a result of today's signatures and those that will come in June, this will increase to the level we want. Also they will give us an opportunity to fix the trade imbalance," the prime minister said. For him, key fields where Turkish and South Korean businesses cooperate are energy, defense technologies, agriculture, ship and auto vehicle production as well as information technologies. "We have seen very clearly the positive results of the FTAs we have signed so far. We eagerly await the month of June," he said. Turkey currently has FTAs with 15 nations as well as with members of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA), a free trade organization of four non-European Union member states in Europe.