KL and Seoul to study possibility of free trade pact
Straits Times | Singapore | August 24, 2004
KL and Seoul to study possibility of free trade pact
Visiting Malaysian Premier also discusses North Korea, education, tourism and business with South Korean leader
By Lee Tee Jong
SEOUL - Malaysia and South Korea have agreed to study the possibility of a bilateral free trade agreement, visiting Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi said yesterday.
’With the agreement, we feel that trade-related activities between both countries will intensify,’ he told Malaysian reporters following talks with South Korean President Roh Moo Hyun yesterday.
Datuk Seri Abdullah said officials from both sides would look into the details of the proposed FTA. South Korea is now negotiating an FTA with Singapore, and that pact is expected to serve as a template for a Korea-Asean FTA.
Datuk Seri Abdullah said his discussion with President Roh was ’fruitful’, and that they spoke on issues ranging from education, tourism, information and communications technology to the development of small and medium industry.
The Malaysian leader suggested setting up a chair for Malay studies at a South Korean university.
Both leaders felt ’relations between the two countries were good, and there was potential for further development’, Bernama reported yesterday.
’A lot of sectors have been identified for attention, and we especially want Korean investments in Malaysia to be increased and trade activities be expanded,’ said the Malaysian Prime Minister.
Bilateral trade between South Korea and Malaysia has been increasing in recent years from US$1.5 billion (S$2.5 billion) in 1990 to US$7.6 billion last year.
Malaysia is the biggest South-east Asian investor in South Korea, reaching US$6.5 billion last year, while South Korean investment in Malaysia was US$740 million in the first six months this year.
In his keynote address at a business forum in Seoul, the Premier yesterday made a passionate sales pitch urging the audience to invest, study, tour and live in Malaysia.
’I would like Korea businessmen to see Malaysia as a gateway to a much larger Asean market,’ he told the audience.
Citing the crackdown on corruption and reduction of bureaucracy, Datuk Seri Abdullah said: ’I pledge that the government of Malaysia will provide an environment conducive for business in the country.’
The Malaysian leader arrived here on Sunday for a three-day visit, his first to South Korea since taking over from Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad last October. He is accompanied by five Cabinet ministers and 70 businessmen.
Datuk Seri Abdullah and Mr Roh also spoke on the North Korean nuclear dispute.
Both leaders agreed that efforts to help North Korea open up should continue, and Mr Roh called for an ’enhanced role’ for Malaysia in the peaceful resolution of the nuclear crisis, said the presidential Blue House.
This morning, Datuk Seri Abdullah will meet South Korean industrial chiefs as well as 250 Malaysian students.
After lunch, he will head for the Seoul Metropolitan Government to receive the Freedom to the City of Seoul Award from Mayor Lee Myung Bak before returning home.
South Korea, which announced the site of its new administrative capital recently, is likely to tap Malaysia’s experience in developing Putrajaya.
