South Korea is moving to implement its bilateral free trade deals with Australia and Canada possibly before the year's end, the government said Wednesday, one day after the country's National Assembly ratified the free trade pacts.
"The government is now consulting with Australia and Canada on dates for the implementation of the free trade agreements (FTAs)," the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy said.
The ministry has noted an FTA is usually implemented within 30 days after the agreement is ratified by the legislatures of both sides.
"Australia has completed its ratification process early November," Deputy Trade Minister Choi Kyong-lim told a regular press briefing.
Canada, too, has completed a review of its bilateral FTA with South Korea by its legislature with the deal now only awaiting approval by the Canadian Cabinet, he added.
The ministry official said the government will work to implement the free trade deals at the earliest date possible.
"We are still discussing with the countries dates for the implementation of the agreements, but we will do our utmost to implement them at the earliest date possible," Choi said.
The ministry earlier said the country may annually lose up to
US$460 million exports should the country fail to enact its FTA with Australia before Australia's similar deal with Japan goes into effect.
The bills on the ratification of the Korea-Australia and Korea-Canada FTAs were submitted to the South Korean parliament in September and October, respectively.
Once implemented, the FTA with Australia is expected to boost South Korea's gross domestic product by 0.14 percent over 10 years while creating some 3,000 new jobs over the cited period.
The Korea-Canada FTA is expected to increase the country's GDP by 0.04 percent over a 10-year period following its implementation, the ministry said earlier.
