Free trade agreement EU and South Korea
The EU and South Korea are important trading partners. The establishment of a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) will prove to be very beneficial to the already blossoming trade relationship between South Korea and the Netherlands.
Important trade partners
South Korea is the European Union's (EU) eighth largest trade partner and the EU has become South Korea's second largest export destination. EU trade with South Korea exceeded 65 billion euro in 2008 and has enjoyed an annual average growth rate of 7.5% between 2004 and 2008.
The Dutch export to Korea has been on steady increase over the last years. In 2008, however, the total amount Dutch export to Korea was 3.2 billion USD, with a slight decrease due to the global economic downturn, and the Netherlands was the fifth largest exporter to Korea within the EU.
Direct foreign investment
The level of direct foreign investment between the Netherlands and South Korea is quite high as well. The Netherlands invested 1.98 billion USD in South Korea in 2007 and was the second largest investor in the country, after the USA. In 2008, the Netherlands ranked as the forth largest investor, with investments worth 1.22 billion USD. Korean companies invested about 800 million USD in the Netherlands in 2008.
The EU-Korea Free Trade Agreement
South Korea was designated a priority FTA partner in the 2006 Global Europe trade policy strategy. Global Europe argued that a comprehensive and ambitious FTA with South Korea that aimed at the highest possible degree of trade liberalisation including far-reaching liberalization of services and investment was clearly in the interests of both sides. In May 2007, negotiations were launched for an EU-Korea FTA in Seoul. After eight rounds of talks, negotiations have been completed and the agreement initialed on 15 October 2009.
More information on the FTA and the text of the agreement can be found on the website of the European Commission.
Related topics
The Netherlands: attractive European business location
Steep rise in foreign investments in the Netherlands
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