Turkey and S Korea to speed up free trade deal

ANKARA - Hürriyet Daily News

Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu with his S Korean counterpart Kim Sung-hwan. DAILY NEWS photo, Selahattin SÖNMEZ

Turkey and South Korea have signed a joint action plan to boost bilateral relations.

The two countries agreed to sign a free trade agreement as soon as possible, which would pave the way to balancing trade between the two countries, Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu said after talks with his South Korean counterpart Jan. 20.

Recalling the imbalance in trade figures between South Korea and Turkey, Davutoğlu said the total value of South Korea’s exports to Turkey was $5.5 billion, while Turkey exported $500 million to the country. “We discussed how to surpass this imbalance in figures today,” he said. Both countries will aim to boost trade volume to $10 billion in a balanced way, the minister added.

Davutoğlu also said they wanted South Korea to participate in Turkey’s “Atak” helicopter project. Kim Sung-hwan, South Korea’s foreign affairs and trade minister, said a delegation would visit Turkey soon in quest of finding goods South Korea could trade at home.