South Korea, New Zealand to begin sixth round of FTA talks

South Korea and New Zealand will hold their sixth round of free trade negotiations in Seoul from Wednesday to Friday. Lee Seong-ho from the Trade, Industry and Energy Ministry will lead the talks for South Korea. He will be accompanied by negotiators from the finance, agriculture and fisheries ministries, according to Korea’s (KBS WORLD) website. The head of New Zealand’s Foreign Affairs and Trade Ministry, Martin Harvey, will lead his country’s delegation. The two sides aim to reach a compromise on the remaining sticking points of the deal, including service sector trade and investment, place of origin rules, customs, and trade concessions. Negotiations on the Korea-New Zealand FTA were suspended in 2010 over disagreements on when to lift tariffs for agriculture and fisheries products. The talks resumed last month. Last year, South Korea’s exports to New Zealand reached one-point-five billion won. The South imported around about one-point-four billion won of products from the island country.