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"CEPA" Korea signs trade deal with INDIA |
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Manager 님의 글입니다.
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2009-08-07 18:42:15, Hit : 355, Vote : 121 |
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Korea and India officially signed a bilateral Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement in Seoul, Friday (Aug. 7).
Korea's trade minister Kim Jong-hoon and his Indian counterpart Anand Sharma met in the Seoul Foreign Ministry office and held the CEPA signing ceremony.
It has taken about three and a half years and 12 rounds of negotiations for the two sides to sign the deal since they began talks in 2006.
The Korea-India CEPA is similar to a free trade agreement, but its rate of tariff reduction or elimination is slower than actual FTAs.
When the CEPA goes into effect as planned next January, after the Korean National Assembly ratifies it, India will eliminate or cut back tariffs on 85 percent of Korean export items in the next 10 years and Korea will do the same for 93 percent of Indian products. The Indian government's cabinet endorsed the CEPA recently and no further parliamentary endorsement is necessary.
Tariffs on Korea's top exports to India -- auto parts, refrigerators and color TVs -- will be reduced to 1 to 5 percent in 8 years or cut back to half within 8 to 10 years, according to the agreement.
Automobiles were not included in the negotiations, considering that India is currently nurturing its auto industry, the Korean government said. Korea's steel and machinery manufacturers are highly likely to benefit from the tariff reductions, it added.
Neither Korea nor India included agricultural products in the agreement considering their sensitivity, the Korean government said.
The two sides will open up their services and investment markets to each other. Information technology engineers and English teachers from India are expected to fly to Korea to work in the country, India's Economic Times expected.
What is special about the CEPA is that Korea inked a deal with India, a member of the BRIC economies (Brazil, Russia, India and China), ahead of competitors, such as Japan, the European Union and China, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade said. Also, Korea is the second country to sign such a deal with India, after Singapore.
Bilateral trade between Korea and India hit US$15.56 billion in 2008. It is expected to grow by $3.3 billion annually following the CEPA signing, the Korea Institute for International Economic Policy (KIEP) forecast.
By James Ro
Korea.net Staff Writer
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