Korea, Chile to discuss expansion of free trade deal

SEOUL, Oct. 13 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's Trade Ministry said Monday that it will
discuss ways to expand a free trade deal with its Chilean counterpart in two-day
talks from Wednesday.
The free trade pact between the two countries went into effect on April 1, 2004.
Both sides will hold the fifth round of free trade commission talks from
Wednesday to Thursday in Santiago, Chile in a bid to further deepen
liberalization in the goods and service sectors and to amend the pact in the
investment sector, the ministry said.
South Korea's free trade pact with Chile has resulted in a six-fold boost in
exports to the South American country since 2004, according to data released in
March by the ministry.
Exports to Chile reached US$3.28 billion in the April 2007-March 2008 period. It
is a sharp rise from the $524 million tallied from April 2003 through March 2004.

Imports from Chile have shot up to $4.25 billion from April 2007 to March 2008.
In the year before the FTA was signed, imports stood at $1.33 billion.
The increased imports were mainly due to a rise in prices of copper, which
accounts for roughly 75 percent of all imports from the South American country.
Bilateral trade reached $7.53 billion during the cited period, compared with
$1.85 billion four years ago.
The South Korea-Chile free trade pact was the first free trade agreement (FTA)
signed by Seoul.