Trade between S. Korea and Turkey jumps over 30 pct under free trade pact

Trade between South Korea and Turkey has jumped more than 30 percent over the past year under a bilateral free trade agreement (FTA) aimed at lowering the overall trade barriers, customs data showed Monday.

The two countries enacted the FTA for goods on May 1, 2013, lowering or removing their import tariffs on nearly all products traded between them. They are now in negotiations for a free trade pact in the service sector.

South Korea and Turkey posted $6.76 billion worth of bilateral trade over the past year since last May, up 30.8 percent from the trade tallied a year earlier, according to the data by the Korea Customs Service.

Exports bound for Turkey surged 33.6 percent over the same period to $6.06 billion, while imports from the country rose 11.1 percent to $700 million.

This resulted in a trade surplus of $5.36 billion for South Korea, which was a 37.2 percent rise from a year earlier, the data showed.

Exports of products benefiting from lower tariffs enforced under the FTA grew 35 percent on-year, while products not benefiting from the trade pact saw their exports grow 30.4 percent over the same period, the data showed. (Yonhap) The korea times моментальный займ на карту без проверки ки