Oct.10th topic(Korea, EU sign free trade pact)

[Daunte]

Korea, EU sign free trade pact

Europe’s first FTA with an Asian nation expected to take effect next July.
BRUSSELS Korea and the European Union on Wednesday inked a free trade pact and agreed to upgrade bilateral relations to a “strategic partnership.”
Under the free trade deal, Korea and the 27-member economic bloc will eliminate or phase out tariffs on almost all goods within three years after it comes into effect.
President Lee Myung-bak, EU Council President Herman Van Rompuy and European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso attended the signing ceremony before holding Korea-EU summit talks.
The deal, due to take effect next July, is expected to help speed up the stalled process to get the Korea-U.S. FTA ratified by their parliaments and to forge similar accords between Korea and China as well as Japan.
“Amid concerns of the rise of trade protectionism as the world overrides the economic crisis, I am confident the Korea-EU FTA would serve as an example of expanding free trade and promoting sustainable economic growth,” Lee said during a joint press conference after the Korea-EU summit.
“Our government will actively cooperate with the EU to allow the Korea-EU FTA to take effect by July 1 next year.” 
The trade pact needs to be ratified by the parliaments of Korea and each of the 27 EU members, which usually takes between two to three years, before officially going into effect.
But most of the FTA provisions will tentatively take effect next July, as part of a measure to prevent delay in the ratification process.
The deal will be the EU’s first FTA with an Asian trading partner. The EU is Korea’s second-largest trading partner after China with two-way trade totaling $78.8 billion last year.
Once the FTA goes into effect, Korea is expected to see a 20 percent growth in trade with the EU, according to the state-run Korean Institute for International Economic Policy.
“It means more than just economic benefits because the FTA was based on the revised basic framework on overall relations between Korea and the EU, which means the two sides share philosophies and values such as human rights, free democracy and market economy,” Lee’s spokesperson Kim Hee-jeong said.
The EU has a higher average rate of tariffs 5.6 percent compared to the U.S. (3.5 percent as of 2008) and especially higher rates for Korea’s major export items automobiles (10 percent), television sets (14 percent), textiles and footwear (up to 12-17 percent).
Seoul officials hope this will press the U.S. Congress to urgently approve its FTA with Korea.
Seoul plans to submit the new trade pact to the National Assembly for ratification within this month.
The European Parliament is expected to ratify the FTA with Korea after passing a bill to implement the Korea-EU FTA safeguard.
Korea and the EU also agreed to continue cooperation to put their revised basic framework for Seoul’s overall relations with the EU, which was signed in May, into effect as early as possible.
“We agreed to build a strategic partnership between Korea and the EU based on the two deals (the FTA and the revised basic framework) and closely cooperate to concretize them,” Lee said at the press conference.
Korea and the EU also vowed efforts for a successful G20 Summit in Seoul next month and the denuclearization of North Korea, which they agreed was crucial to world peace and stability, Lee said.
Lee departed for Seoul later in the day, wrapping up a 4-day stay in the Belgian capital during which he also attended a biennial meeting of Asian and European leaders and held bilateral summit talks with his counterparts of Belgium, China, Japan and Australia.

Apart from the new trade deal, Korea has so far signed six FTAs with 17 countries including Chile, Singapore, the four-member European Free Trade Association (Norway, Switzerland, Iceland and Liechtenstein), the 10-member ASEAN, India and the U.S. All of them except for the one with the U.S. have taken effect.

The EU has free trade agreements with some 30 neighboring countries such as Switzerland and Norway and former colonies. The EU is currently under negotiations for FTAs with Canada, India and Singapore.

Question.

1.       Which country do you want to travel around? Or Plz tell us your country that you have ever visited before.

2.       Which country or city in Europe do you want to visit and stay at ex) Roma, Vienna, Paris……

3.       Please tell us the service and price about your travel agency that you had contracted, and its pro and cons?

What is most famous and best one in Korea? 여행박사, 하나투어?

4.       If you have a one-month vacation with 10Mil Won. What would you like to do?

5.       Do you think that FTA with EU will be beneficial to Korea or you? Let’s toss around ~

 

한번에  출력하세요,,,MS 파일 첨부(2페이지)~

Korea, EU sign free trade pact(Oct.10th).doc

[Vuitton(김소윤)]

내가 올릴려고 했는데...ㅋㅋ고맙습니다^^

[cindy(장인경)]

새로 오신 여자분이...안 오셨구낭?...ㅡㅡ;

[Christopher(강경헌)]

수고하셧습니다.

[한울립새(이여운)]

완전 멋진대요~~