(MENAFN- Qatar News Agency) South Korea and Turkey are close to a free trade deal on the service and investment sectors that will complete their bilateral free trade agreement (FTA) signed earlier in the year, the Seoul government said.
South Korea's Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy said that the two countries held a new round of negotiations for a deal on the service and investment sectors in Seoul, according to the South Korea's (Yonhap) News Agency
"In the latest round of negotiations, the two sides achieved visible progress by reaching a consensus on most articles in the agreement for the service and investment sectors, except only on a few technical issues," it said in a press release
At the latest round, the fifth of its kind, the countries discussed the level of liberalization for their respective service industries while agreeing to hold such discussions for the investment market in a fresh round of negotiations, the ministry added
The countries had sought to sign a comprehensive FTA that calls for opening the market for products, investment and service but had been forced to first sign an agreement only on products, which went into effect at the start of May
The negotiations for an agreement on the service and investment sectors were resumed in August after a 29-month pause that started in March 2011. The countries earlier agreed to conclude their negotiations for the service and investment sectors before the end of the first half of 2014
If the countries sign a deal on service and industry, it will mark Turkey's first comprehensive FTA that deals with all aspects of the market, including products, according to the ministry
The Korea-Turkey FTA is South Korea's ninth free trade deal.
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