On January 26, Ecuador and South Korea will hold in Quito the first negotiations to seek a strategic agreement on economic cooperation, according to a press release from the Ministry of Foreign Trade of Ecuador.
The meeting will be held at the Eugenio Espejo Convention Center. The event will last for three days, and a joint declaration will be issued at the end of it.
This agreement between Ecuador and South Korea wont be a classical free trade agreement (FTA), but a Strategic Economic Partnership Agreement (SECA) respecting the special and differential treatment for Ecuador through clauses to protect its economy, as it is more vulnerable than that of South Korea, the thirteenth in the world, according to the World Bank (WB).
The agreement between Ecuador and South Korea will also include commitments of cooperation, knowledge transfer, and technical support.
In 2014 Ecuador exported to South Korea $58 million dollars in non-oil products, and between January and November 2015 Ecuadorian exports to South Korea totaled $55 million, mainly in shrimp, bananas, tilapia and other fish, as well as purees and pastes from different fruits, among others.
Meanwhile, South Korea is the eighth largest importer of goods in the world and one of the world's leading investors in Latin America with $25.533 million dollars.
These negotiations were preceded by the trip that the Minister of Foreign Trade, Diego Aulestia, made to Seoul five months ago. Aulestia signed the official start of this process with his South Korean counterpart, Yoon Sang-Jick.
"Ecuador is interested in promoting trade in non-oil goods, and South Korea has a strong demand for agricultural products. The goal is to further increase exports to continue reducing the trade deficit," Aulestia said in Seoul last August.
Source: andes.info.ec