South Korea is looking to resume talks for a new free trade agreement with the Gulf Cooperation Council, local reports have said.
The two sides have not had a mutual FTA for more than 10 years now.
Now, that is about to end, according to South Korea’s Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.
Korean Trade Minister Yeo Han-koo is expected to soon meet his United Arab Emirates counterpart Thani Al-Zeyoudi virtually and propose resuming talks for the South Korea-GCC FTA.
During the meeting, the two countries also plan to discuss a wide array of bilateral issues to forge deeper ties in the energy sector.
South Korea and the GCC agreed to launch negotiations for the FTA in 2007, but related talks have been stalled since 2009.
Yeo was quoted as saying in a statement: “A multilateral FTA plays a crucial role in establishing sustainable economic ties and coping with changes in the global supply chain amid the Covid-19 pandemic.”
He added: “South Korea and the UAE have been holding close ties in traditional energy sectors, including the petroleum and nuclear industries. Based on such cooperation, the two countries need to expand their partnership to emerging industries, including sustainable energy.”
The GCC has six members: Kuwait, the UAE, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Oman and Qatar.
On the other side, South Korea is the fourth-largest economy in Asia.