South Korean and US companies to benefit from TPP, says Park
SOUTH KOREAN President Park Geun-hye says companies in her country and in the United States will stand to benefit if Seoul joins the world's largest trading bloc.
Trade ministers of the US and 11 other nations reached the Trans-Pacific Partnership deal this month, which accounts for about 40 per cent of global gross domestic product.
“If South Korea joins the TPP, it will bring many benefits to companies of both sides,” Park said in a speech to Korean and US business leaders in Washington, DC, on Thursday.
Park was in the US for summit talks with her US counterpart Barack Obama yesterday.
South Korea has clinched a series of free-trade agreements with major trading partners, including the US and China, in recent years as part of its efforts to boost growth in the country’s export-driven economy.
South Korea’s exports represent around 50 per cent of its GDP.
“South Korea is a natural partner of the US over the TPP,” Park said in a separate speech at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington-based think tank, as Seoul has already signed free-trade deals with 10 members of the TPP.
