South Korea and the United Arab Emirates(UAE) have reached an agreement to adopt a comprehensive economic partnership agreement(CEPA).
 
Trade minister Ahn Duk-geun and his UAE counterpart Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi met in Seoul Saturday and signed a joint statement announcing the conclusion of the negotiations for the Korea-UAE CEPA.
 
The CEPA is a type of free trade agreement which focuses on a broader scope of economic cooperation, in addition to wider access to the goods and services industry.
 
The negotiations between the two countries put up speed in the latter half of this year, following South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol’s visit to the UAE in January.
 
The trade volume between South Korea and the middle eastern country reached around 19-point-five billion dollars last year.
 
The government plans to sign the final agreement within the first half of next year after a legal review and translation of the documents into Korean. The agreement will take effect after the national assembly ratification.
 
The latest trade pact is the 24th FTA for South Korea to clinch.