S. Korea, New Zealand vow to forge deeper ties via FTA

All News 11:00 November 06, 2019

SEOUL, Nov. 6 (Yonhap) -- South Korea and New Zealand will seek to forge deeper economic ties on the back of their free trade agreement (FTA) that went into effect four years ago, Seoul's trade ministry said Wednesday.

South Korea's FTA with New Zealand kicked off in 2015 after the two countries started their first official negotiations back in 2009.

To further beef up cooperation, trade officials from South Korea and New Zealand are set to gather in Seoul on Thursday to discuss expanding their cooperation in a wider scope of areas.

The two nations will share ideas on promoting exchanges of experts in the agricultural and fishery industries, according to the ministry.

Trade between the two countries reached US$3.1 billion in 2018, up nearly 25 percent from $2.5 billion posted in 2015.

Asia's No. 4 economy especially has sold more heavy construction machines to New Zealand, whose shipments doubled over the cited period. Those of zinc coated steel sheets also advanced 25 percent.