Korea, India to resume talks on upgrading trade pact

Seoul's Trade Minister Yeo Han-koo, right, and India's Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal, left, hold a meeting in New Delhi on Jan. 11. [YONHAP]

Korea and India were to hold a new round of negotiations Thursday to upgrade their bilateral trade pact after a three-year hiatus, Seoul's Trade Ministry said.

The two nations implemented the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) in January 2010 and began talks to upgrade the pact in 2015.

But negotiations have been suspended since June 2019 due to the Covid-19 pandemic and other issues.

The 9th round will begin in Seoul for a two-day run, during which the two sides will discuss ways to improve the deal regarding tariffs on goods and services, investment and origin rules, among other issues, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.

"Cooperation with India bears significance particularly at a time when we are facing global supply chain instability and growing economic uncertainties," ministry official Yang Gi-uk said.

"We will take the envisioned CEPA revision as a chance to expand bilateral trade and investment and to help our firms make inroads into the Indian market," he added.

Two-way trade stood at an all-time high of $23.66 billion in 2021, according to government data.

Yonhap