New Zealand PM agrees to initiate bilateral free trade
16 May '08
2 min read
South Korea and New Zealand have concluded a mutual contract to start exploring potential markets in each others country by means of a free trade agreement.
This agreement was reached at a summit between Mr Lee Myung-Bak, President of South Korea and Helen Clark, Prime Minister of New Zealand.
Ms Helen Clark was on a three-day official visit to South Korea which culminated in a agreement between the two leaders who also agreed to launch preparatory talks to discuss the feasibility of a bilateral free trade.
New Zealand exports to the Republic of Korea, its sixth largest export market, increased by 21 percent in 2007.
A research study made by experts show that initiation of bilateral trade would add US $5.9 billion to the GDP of South Korea every year and $4.5 billion to that of New Zealand.
Besides, annual exports of New Zealand to South Korea would also jump by 60 percent or $329 million while South Korea's shipment to New Zealand would rise by 11 percent to $64 million.
Moreover, imports to New Zealand from Korea include technology and petrol among others. Korea is also a world leader in the information and communications technology.
Both the heads shared the view that there is immense scope for expanding bilateral trade since the countries have complementary economic structures.
20240830145952.gif)
.jpg?tr=w-120,h-60,c-at_max,cm-pad_resize,bg-ffffff "UBM China (Shanghai)")
-Ltd..jpg?tr=w-120,h-60,c-at_max,cm-pad_resize,bg-ffffff "Thermore (Far East) Ltd.")
