Summary:  Korea and Colombia made agreements on some sectors during their second round of free trade talks held this week.

Content: 

Korea and Colombia made agreements on some sectors, including the services industry, during their second round of free trade talks held this week, the trade ministry said over the weekend.

During the five-day meeting from Monday held in Bogota, the capital of Colombia, the two countries reached an agreement on transparency and competition, as well as on the services and online business sectors, the ministry said.

They were near an agreement in other sectors, except for some key issues, it said.

During the meeting, Korea called for Colombia to further open its market to Korea’s main export items, including cars and car parts, electronic appliances, petrochemicals and steel products, the ministry said.

Both sides plan to exchange a draft of goods possibly eligible for tariff concessions by April 16 and hold an intermediate meeting to negotiate the draft in early May.

They agreed to hold the third round of the talks in mid-June in Seoul.

Seoul and Bogota held their first round of free trade negotiations in Seoul in December of last year.

Their bilateral trade reached $1.23 billion in 2008, with Korea’s exports to the South American country reaching $1.09 billion, according to the ministry.