- Registration date2024-03-26
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Minister for Trade Inkyo Cheong met with Tengku Zafrul Aziz, Malaysia’s Minister of Investment, Trade and Industry (MITI), on March 26 in Kuala Lumpur for trade ministerial talks and the two ministers declared the resuming of bilateral Free Trade Agreement (FTA) negotiations between the two countries, which have been on pause since 2019.
The declaration comes four years and six months after the third official negotiating round held in September 2019, and the two sides agreed to establish working groups for service, investment, digital, green, and bio in addition to those that had already been in progress, with aim to push for a more comprehensive FTA.
Among ASEAN countries, Malaysia is Korea’s third and fourth largest partner in terms of trade and investment, respectively. In view of the two countries’ mutually supplementary trade structure comprising natural gas, petroleum products, semiconductors, and fine chemicals, it is anticipated that the FTA will bolster Korea’s trade and investment base in ASEAN.
Meanwhile, during the Korea-Malaysia trade ministerial talks held prior to the declaration of FTA resumption, the two sides agreed to install a bilateral trade ministerial dialogue as a platform for advancing their economic cooperation and decided to further close cooperation in areas like supply chains and new industries.
On the margins of the visit, Trade Minister Cheong held a conference with Korean companies locally operating in Malaysia to discuss measures for resolving issues concerning onsite management, including investment incentives and customs challenges.