After six years, Ecuador and South Korea returned to the negotiating table to sign a trade agreement

The process for the signing of a Strategic Economic Cooperation Agreement (SECA) between Ecuador and South Korea continues, after last Monday, in Seoul, the sixth round of negotiations began, the which is carried out in a hybrid way with face-to-face and virtual sessions.

The purpose of the Government, in this case, is that this commercial instrument will open the doors to a market of 50 million inhabitants with high purchasing power, with a GDP per capita (dollars at current international prices) of $32,143, and the Asia-Pacific area.

After 6 years, Ecuador resumes negotiations for a trade agreement with South Korea

The negotiation with Korea began in 2015 and was resumed in March 2022, after a meeting between the Minister of Production, Foreign Trade, Investment and Fisheries, Julio José Prado, with his South Korean counterpart, Han-Koo Yeo, who was the head negotiator of the agreement in 2016.

After the meeting, the technical teams of both countries agreed on the terms for relaunching the sixth round of negotiations between the two nations, which took place on Monday.

This agreement includes a total of 16 topics, such as market access, technical barriers to trade, sanitary and phytosanitary measures, trade defense, rules of origin, cross-border trade in services, institutional provisions, dispute settlement and investment.

This also includes new generation matters such as labor and environmental issues, competition, telecommunications, intellectual property, cooperation, electronic commerce and trade in services.

Regarding the bilateral commercial relationship, in 2021, Korea was the 18th destination of Ecuadorian non-oil exports to the world, with a value of $124.7 million. Likewise, it occupied the 20th position with respect to agricultural and fishing exports, with a value of $96.5 million.

The main non-oil export products from Ecuador to South Korea were shrimp, metal waste, bananas, fish, other metal manufactures, other chemicals and pharmaceuticals, and cocoa.

Ambassador of South Korea: Ecuador is registered in the history of Korean exports

In the same year, the main non-oil import products from South Korea to Ecuador are: light automobiles, polymers, other metal manufactures, vaccines, immunological products and plasma, bumpers, seat belts and the like for vehicles, front bulldozers, mechanical shovels, excavators and the like, and engines and their parts.

Of the 30 main products exported by Ecuador to Korea, 25 pay tariffs, so signing a trade agreement between the two countries will allow the entry of the Ecuadorian exportable supply with competitive advantages and, consequently, increase the export potential of traditional products and non-traditional Ecuadorians to the South Korean market, taking advantage of the complementarity of the economies.

Meanwhile, between 2017 and 2021, Ecuador exported $531.9 million in non-oil products to the South Korean market. (YO)