The Israeli government has announced that South Korea and Israel will begin free trade talks with the goal to sign a trade pact by April.
Israel's Ministry of Industry, Trade and Labor Shalom Simchon made the announcement at the World Trade Organization in Geneva.
Both sides hoped that the zone could be active by April 2012, he said.
Simchon met last Sunday with Korean trade minister Kim Jong Hon to discuss the matter.
Simchon said before the meeting that a free trade zone would greatly increase trade between the two countries. “Israel's economy and Korea's economy complement each other, and I believe that as soon as we begin talks we will come to a quick agreement, increasing the ability of our two economies to compete around the world,” Simchon added.
Israel's exports to Korea, excluding diamonds, in the first nine months of 2011 topped 5-hundred million US dollars and imports during the period amounted to 1.1 billion.
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