Park Geun-o (left), director general for trade agreement policy at South Korea's Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy [Herald Business DB]
Park Geun-o (left), director general for trade agreement policy at South Korea's Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy [Herald Business DB]

South Korea's Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy said the second round of official negotiations to upgrade the Korea-Singapore Free Trade Agreement — which took effect in 2006 — is being held in Seoul on Tuesday and Wednesday, as the two countries work to align the pact with a changing global trade environment.

Delegations of about 30 officials from each side are taking part, led by Park Geun-o, the ministry's director general for trade agreement policy, and Tan Rui Hai, director of the Northeast Asia division at Singapore's Ministry of Trade and Industry.

Singapore was the first ASEAN member to sign a free trade agreement with South Korea, and the pact marks its 20th anniversary this year. The two countries agreed to launch upgrade negotiations during President Lee Jae-myung's state visit to Singapore in March.

Following a signing ceremony, the two sides formally opened the upgrade process in April in Singapore, when they signed terms of reference for the negotiations. The first round covered four working groups: supply chains, the green economy, aviation maintenance, repair and operations (MRO), and trade facilitation.

In the second round, the government plans to advance cooperation in new trade areas across five sectors — including supply chains, the green economy and aviation MRO — while deepening bilateral aviation MRO collaboration.

"Singapore is South Korea's second-largest investment and trading partner in ASEAN," Park said. "We will do our utmost to produce negotiating outcomes that help Korean companies enter the Singapore market, including through the modernization of trade rules."


oskymoon@heraldcorp.com