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South Korea, Malaysia agree to push for free trade deal

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President Moon Jae-in, left, shakes hands with Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad at the start of their summit at PM's office in Putrajaya, Wednesday afternoon. Yonhap
President Moon Jae-in, left, shakes hands with Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad at the start of their summit at PM's office in Putrajaya, Wednesday afternoon. Yonhap

By Kim Yoo-chul

President Moon Jae-in and Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad decided to push for a bilateral free trade agreement (FTA) at their meeting in Putrajaya, Wednesday.

"The leaders of the two countries agreed to sign an FTA by the end of this year, at the earliest. With the increase in the volume of trade between South Korea and Malaysia, the consensus was establishing a fresh trading framework was needed," the presidential office said in a press release.

"Working-level discussions will begin soon. The leaders agreed in principle to sign the FTA on the sidelines of the Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir's possible participation to a special South Korea-ASEAN summit later this year."

Moon planned to hold the summit later this year to mark the 30th anniversary of establishing diplomatic relations.

Cheong Wa Dae officials said the FTA, if realized, would give people in South Korea more chances to work in the Southeast Asian country. The deal is expected to benefit South Korea's tourism-related industries.

At the meeting, Moon and Mahathir signed four memoranda of understanding involving industrial cooperation, transportation, the development of a "smart city" in Malaysia and the halal food industry.

Malaysia is one of the leading economic powerhouses among ASEAN member countries. The business potential of smart city-related technologies are expansive, there, with the country operating a smart city-designed government agency called PLANMalaysia.

"The MOU will help South Korean companies, which have patents and technologies in areas of transportation, healthcare, energy, platform and water management, explore new growth opportunities there," according to the release.

Bilateral trade volume between the two countries has grown from $15.76 billion in 2017 to $17.98 billion last year with South Korea becoming Malaysia's eighth-largest trading partner, globally, according to the South's trade ministry.

Cheong Wa Dae said other issues discussed at the meeting were the preparations of the upcoming 60th anniversary of diplomatic relations between South Korea and Malaysia in 2020 and the enhancement of ties between South Korea and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

Moon arrived in the Malaysian capital of Kuala Lumpur Tuesday evening for a three-day state visit. His trip to Malaysia is aimed at strengthening South Korea's relations with ASEAN member countries under his signature New Southern Policy.

Malaysia, along with Brunei and Cambodia, are members of the 10-member ASEAN. Moon will end his visit to Malaysia, today, to head for Cambodia, the third and last leg of his three-nation state visit.


Kim Yoo-chul yckim@koreatimes.co.kr


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