The Philippines and South Korea have agreed to conclude the two countries’ free trade agreement by the first half of 2020. This was the commitment between Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez and his South Korean counterpart Minister Yoo Myung-hee after the Trade ministers signed an “early achievement package” on November 25 at the sidelines of the ASEAN-Korea Commemorative Summit in Busan, South Korea.
“Based on this progress, the Ministers reaffirmed their strong commitment to conclude the PH-KR FTA (Philippines-Korea Free Trade Agreement) negotiations within the first half of 2020,” Lopez and Yoo said in a joint statement.
The “early achievement package” reports the progress of the trade negotiations, including priority products such as banana, garments, and auto parts for the Philippines and pharmaceuticals, petrochemicals, and auto parts for South Korea, the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) said Tuesday.
The Trade ministers affirmed that the “early achievement package” will be further improved and incorporated in the free trade agreement. “Moving forward and in keeping with the principle of single undertaking, this Package will be improved through consideration of additional tariff lines and/or other mechanisms that will further facilitate trade and investments and will be incorporated when finalizing the PH-KR FTA,” Lopez and Yoo said.
