Trade Minister Yeo Han-koo held the inaugural Korea-UK FTA trade committee meeting with UK’s International Trade Secretary Anne-Marie Trevelyan in London on February 7, a first post-Brexit trade talks between the two countries.
This meeting enabled the assessment of the Korea-UK FTA execution status as part of the follow-up measure of the Korea-UK summit talks held in New York in September of last year. Mutual efforts toward their applications to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) were confirmed on both sides, and talks proceeded on to cover a strategic MOU regarding Korea-UK supply chain resilience for key items.
Both trade chiefs concurred that Korea-UK businesses became more consistent and stable through the enforcement of FTA, in view of the substantial 32.6 percent trade enlargement and robust investments in 2021 despite the pandemic. Korea’s annual exports to UK hit USD 6 billion, centering around electronic vehicles, automobiles, wireless phones, while UK’s hydrogen fuel cells, offshore wind technology, and pharmaceuticals are meeting ever growing demand among South Korean consumers.
Noting the two countries’ past history of close collaboration in terms of supply chain resilience, Minister Yeo addressed the need to continue their concerted efforts in areas of bio-health and renewable energy in the future for a mutually beneficial fortification of both existing and new supply chains. Based on the newly signed supply chain MOU, more active information sharing and cooperation can be anticipated, especially as industrial demand for platinum is gaining traction in the face of tighter regulations on automobile gas emissions. Home to the London Metal Exchange (LME), the UK is the world’s 3rd largest exporter of platinum.
As stipulated in the bilateral FTA agreement, this meeting will progress onto further negotiations on an enhanced trade deal again within 2 years, most probably within 2022. Those latter talks will deal with digital, SMEs, carbon neutral, pandemic response and such novel trade order sectors requiring cooperation. In this view, Minister Yeo proposed that the Korea-UK FTA on e-commerce trade be extensively reinforced to the level of Korea-Singapore Digital Partnership Agreement (KSDPA). This move will allow for a more robust exchange of digital trade, culture, and startup businesses.
At present, there is no investment chapter for Korea-UK FTA. Minister Yeo proposed for an installation of an investment chapter between the two countries, seeing this will strengthen bilateral investments protection. He also expressed Korea’s aspirations for hosting the 2030 World Expo in Busan in recognition of the UK’s leading role during the industrial revolution.
Source: Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy