South Korea-EU trade deal to have global impact: envoy

SEOUL: A sweeping free trade agreement between South Korea and the European Union will have a worldwide impact, the EU's ambassador in Seoul said Thursday, on the eve of its implementation.

Tomasz Kozlowski said the FTA - the first in Asia for the world's largest economic bloc - was a "win-win" agreement and would be a model for others that the EU is negotiating in the continent.

The deal will "have a wide impact in Asia and in the world", Kozlowski told a news conference. "It shows the potential for increasing growth and jobs through greater trade between Europe and Asia."

Apart from multiplying the flow of goods and services, the agreement would "boost exchange of ideas, exchange of people and culture, and ultimately will bring Korea and the EU much closer," he said.

The EU is currently South Korea's second largest trading partner after China, taking almost 20 percent of its exports.

EU exports to South Korea are worth 28 billion euros ($40.5 billion), while Korea's exports to Europe amount to 38.7 billion.

From Friday the FTA will scrap 70 percent of customs duties, rising to 98.7 percent over the next five years.

Within the next three years, tariffs on 96 percent of EU goods and 99 percent of South Korean goods will be eliminated.

Copyright APP (Associated Press of Pakistan), 2011

Copyright AFP (Agence France-Presse), 2011