1.The third round of the Korea-Australia FTA negotiations will be held in Canberra, Australia from
November 30 to December 4, 2009.
The two chief negotiators, Mr. Taeho Lee, Director-General for FTA Policy from the Ministry of Foreign
Affairs and Trade and Ms. Jan Adams, head of the Korea-Australia FTA negotiation Task Force from the
Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, and officials from relevant ministries of the two countries will
attend the meeting.
2.Since the second round of negotiations, Korea and Australia have continued the negotiations on the
tariff concessions on goods. The two sides will start a full discussion on opening the markets for the
service and investment sectors on the basis of the reservation lists the two sides exchanged on
November 11, 2009.
In regard to the text of the Agreement, both sides will seek to reach a consensus on each significant
issue such as goods, services, investment, trade related rules and dispute settlement. Korea will also
make sincere efforts to enhance bilateral cooperation in areas like energy, mineral resources and
agriculture.
3.The Korea-Australia FTA, once it is put into effect, will contribute not only to increasing Korea’s
exports to Australia but also to enhancing bilateral cooperation in areas like energy and resources
and to increasing both investment and service professionals’ access to the other contracting party’s
market.
∙Australia is Korea’s eighth largest trading partner.
∙Australia is Korea’s largest exporter of minerals and the largest destination for foreign investment.
Spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade
* unofficial translation