Australia Seeks Free Trade With South Korea
19 May 2009 Sam Gerovich, Australia’s ambassador to South Korea, says a free-trade agreement (FTA) between the two countries will improve ties, according to the Sydney Morning Herald. Amidst concerns that an FTA would undermine Seoul’s agricultural sector, Gerovich pointed out that Australian agricultural goods take up less than 20% of the country’s exports to South Korea. Two-way trade reached $23.2 billion last year with South Korea posting a deficit of $12.8 billion, government statistics showed.
South Korean farmers strongly oppose FTAs, arguing that they will flood the domestic agricultural market with cheap imports.
“Many Koreans believe that an FTA with Australia will pose a threat and undermine the Korean agriculture sector. This is simply not true,” Gerovich said, explaining that even in good years, Australian rice makes up less than 0.3% of total global rice production and that South Korea produces approximately 90 times more rice than Australia. “Australia simply hopes to compete in the growing Korean agricultural goods market but not to hurt Korean farmers.”
South Korea and Australia are scheduled to start formal talks on the FTA next week in Canberra, Australia, with the goal of forging a deal within a year. Gerovich expressed optimism that the talks will “move quickly,” but he also suggestedthat some decisions will have to be based on the “political will” of both sides during the course of the talks.
“A study in 2006 concluded that an FTA will boost Korea’s gross domestic product by around $30 billion in the period of 2020 and Australia’s by $23 billion by the same period.” he said. “We can enhance our bilateral trade investment relationship through a high-quality comprehensive agreement.”
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