First official round runs by video conference on May 4 to 7 with about 50 negotiators from both sides
Yeo Han-koo, Chief Trade Negotiator at the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, holds a video conference with Jam Kamal Khan, Pakistan’s Minister of Commerce, at the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Jung-gu, Seoul, on April 30.
The government will hold the first official round of negotiations via video conference from May 4 to 7 to conclude a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) with Pakistan.
The Office of Trade and Investment Negotiations at the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy announced that approximately 50 negotiators from both countries will participate in the talks, led by Kim Jang-hee, Acting Trade Agreement Negotiator, on the Korean side, and Nasir Hamid, Deputy Secretary for Trade Diplomacy at Pakistan’s Ministry of Commerce, on the Pakistani side.
Pakistan, with a population of 240 million and an abundant young workforce, is a promising market that is actively pursuing expansion of its manufacturing base and infrastructure development. However, the volume of bilateral trade between the two countries remains limited relative to this potential, making it all the more necessary to expand trade and investment through the CEPA.
Following the joint declaration to launch Korea-Pakistan CEPA negotiations in January of last year, both sides have since worked on agreeing on negotiation procedures and preparing initial draft agreement texts, and conducted preliminary negotiations via video conference from April 20 to 23, covering areas including goods, rules of origin, and environment.
Building on the shared understanding of the need to accelerate negotiations that emerged from the meeting between Yeo Han-koo, Chief Trade Negotiator at the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, and Jam Kamal Khan, Pakistan’s Minister of Commerce, on April 30, the Korean government plans to use this first official round of negotiations to confirm both sides’ interests and positions across four areas — economic cooperation, investment, intellectual property rights, and trade remedies — and to lay the groundwork for future negotiations.
Kim Jang-hee, Acting Trade Agreement Negotiator, stated, “This first official round of negotiations marks the point at which the Korea-Pakistan CEPA negotiations have gotten fully underway in earnest,” adding, “We will engage actively in negotiations to ensure that the CEPA with Pakistan serves as a substantive cooperation platform that supports the expansion of bilateral trade and investment and facilitates Korean companies’ entry into the South Asian market.”
Jung Suk-yee
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