Georgia and South Korea Initiate Economic Partnership Negotiations
Georgia's Ministry of Economy has announced the commencement of negotiations on an economic partnership agreement between Georgia and South Korea.
The Deputy Minister of Economy, Genadi Arveladze, met with the Acting Director General of the Department of Free Trade Policy of the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, Chang Yong Ani, to discuss the terms of negotiations for the agreement. The proposed agreement will cover the liberalization of trade in both goods and services, as well as other issues, including sanitary and phytosanitary measures, technical barriers to trade, intellectual property rights, public procurement, and more.
The economic partnership agreement also aims to deepen economic cooperation between the two countries in various sectors, such as energy, transport, information technology, tourism, environmental protection, and more. The agreement's negotiations are scheduled to begin this year.
During the meeting, Genadi Arveladze highlighted the potential of Georgia's energy, agriculture, production, and tourism sectors in terms of attracting foreign investments. Therefore, the agreement is expected to foster economic growth in these areas, as well as promote economic cooperation between the two countries.
Currently, the economic relations between Georgia and South Korea are characterized by a fluctuating trend. In the 1990s, the inflow of investments from South Korea into Georgia was between 5 to 10 million dollars annually. The volumes of Korean financial flows to Georgia were the largest from 2015 to 2019, with a record high trade turnover of 118 million dollars in 2018. However, after the pandemic, the volume of Korean investments in Georgia decreased sharply in 2020 to 2.4 million dollars, rising slightly to 4 million dollars in 2021 and 1.3 million dollars in 2022.
In terms of trade turnover, after the pandemic, the trade relations between Georgia and South Korea have shown an upward trend. In 2022, the trade turnover between the two countries increased by 23.1% to 99 million dollars, with exports accounting for only 8.9 million dollars. The top exported goods to South Korea included copper ores and concentrates, vaccines, and blood and immune products. Conversely, Georgia imported various goods worth 89.9 million dollars from South Korea in 2022, with light vehicles, bulldozers, and motor graders being the top imported goods.
Despite Georgia's low tourist appeal to South Koreans, the pre-pandemic tourism rate was restored by 30.7% in 2022, with 5,112 Korean visitors. The economic partnership agreement between the two countries is expected to strengthen their bilateral ties further and provide new opportunities for trade, investment, and tourism.