[19/March/2010]

ANKARA, March 19 (Saba) -- Turkey and South Korea agreed Friday to start talks over a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) late next month, with the negotiations set to conclude with the signature of the FTA by next November, Kuwait News Agency (KUNA) reported on Friday.

Turkish minister of state for foreign trade Mehmet Zafer Caglayan, at a joint news conference with his South Korean counterpart Jong-Hoon Kim, said the talks would start between April 26 and 30.

He said both countries would hold three rounds of negotiations, and the signing of the deal was expected to take place next November.

Caglayan said trade exchange between Turkey and South Korea was USD 3.3 billion last year. "This is way less than expecations of both sides because they have huge capabilities," he added.

Turkey and South Korea signed nuclear energy cooperation MoU last week, aims at conducting technical studies and economic feasibility study over the establishment of a nuclear reactor in northern Turkey to produce 4,000 megawatts.
Saba