Helen Clark and South Korea's Lee Myung-bak have agreed to preparatory talks on negotiating a free trade deal. Photo / Reuters
A free-trade deal with Korea would hopefully see the country slash its "horrifically" high tariff rates for New Zealand exports, says the Prime Minister.
New Zealand and Korea last week moved one step closer to free trade negotiations with Helen Clark and Korean President Lee Myung-bak agreeing to
preparatory talks.
Clark said the talks, which would be held between officials, would establish the scope and ambition of any negotiations and would leave New Zealand well placed once the Korean parliament had ratified its recent deal with the United States. Korea is New Zealand's sixth largest export market, taking $1.33 billion of goods and services last year.
But it has an average agriculture tariff rate of 52 per cent.
A study into the benefits of an FTA between the two countries found such an agreement would be worth $4.5 billion to New Zealand over 20 years.
Clark said negotiations were now a question of "when, not if".
Korea was "immersed" in the debate around the United States' FTA, which was getting a rocky ride through its parliament. However, she said Lee, who has business-friendly credentials, was keen to make Korea's economy more efficient and competitive.
"He knows the case is there, it's really a question of at what point the Government can elevate it," she said.
Going by Korea's successful track record with Chile and the United States, once negotiations started they could move very quickly, she said.
The two leaders said they also discussed ways to expand investment between the two countries, as well as greater co-operation in education, science and technology, agriculture and the film industry.
Clark is the first foreign leader to visit Korea since the President's inauguration. Her visit follows hot on the heels of a successful trip to Japan, where she won agreement to undertake a study on the benefits of a free trade deal.
Clark, who described the study as a "significant breakthrough", said getting a deal would still take time. "But you never get to the end point if you never take the first step."
- NZPA
