Key talks trade with South Korea
TVNZ, New Zealand
Key talks trade with South Korea
5 July 2010
(NZPA) Trade will be top of the agenda when Prime Minister John Key meets with President Lee Myung-bak and Prime Minister Chung Un-chan in Korea later today.
Key says talks over a free trade agreement (FTA) between the two countries have largely stalled since they were launched last year.
The Koreans are concerned about the influence of the New Zealand agriculture sector on domestic producers.
Competition for domestic Korean beef is likely to be a sticking point.
However, Key believes New Zealand will be competing with other exporters to Korea not the domestic producers.
The European Union, United States and Australia are negotiating their own FTAs with Korea and New Zealand needs to get in first, he says.
"The reality for us is if they do complete a deal and we don’t we’re in a relatively worse position,"
Advertisement
Korea is New Zealand’s second largest market, worth about $2.6 billion in two-way trade annually.
Key arrived in Seoul yesterday. He will spend two more days in Korea before travelling to China and Vietnam.
Yesterday, after his official welcome, Key toured the demilitarised zone - the four kilometres separating North and South Korea - and was briefed on security on the Korean Peninsula.
Today the focus will shift to trade when he meets with Lee and Chung following a wreath laying ceremony at the War Memorial.
