The negotiating team and the Ecuadorian businessmen have the expectation of reaching a technical closure with the ninth round of trade negotiations with South Korea.
On Monday, April 3, 2023, the national delegation began in Seoul, the South Korean capital, the talks of this ninth and possible last round to close the trade agreement with this Asian country.
The Ecuadorian delegation is chaired by the Vice Minister of Foreign Trade, Daniel Legarda, together with the chief negotiator, Edwin Vásquez.
The inauguration was attended by the ambassador of Ecuador in South Korea, Carlos Emanuele. For South Korea, the negotiating team is headed by Hyejin Kwon.
Xavier Rosero, Executive Vice President of the Federation of Exporters of Ecuador (Fedexpor) , leads the private commission or the Fourth Deputy.
This group accompanies the negotiating team of Ecuador. Rosero is the delegate of the Ecuadorian Business Committee and Fedexpor. There are representatives of the shrimp, banana, beverage and food sectors and other segments.
Rosero informs that with the technical closing, some tables will be defined. For example, issues related to market access, rules of origin, services, intellectual property, and cooperation. At the goods access table, there is 80% progress in the negotiation.
Progress in negotiations with South Korea
Ana Cristina Avilés, technical director of the Pichincha Chamber of Industrialists, is also in the Fourth Deputy in this ninth round.
She reports that on the first day of the conference, the intellectual property and cooperation tables were closed.
In these days, work was done on access to markets, services, origin, sanitary and phytosanitary measures and the institutional table.
The agreement is seen as beneficial for Ecuador, since access is expected for at least 96% of Ecuadorian exports: shrimp, flowers, bananas and fish.
Additionally, it seeks to guarantee access to non-traditional products: dairy products and animal protein. These segments have export potential to South Korea.
On the Korean side, they want to access tariff preferences on vehicles, auto parts, tires, white goods and others, which constitute their main exportable offer.
After the commercial technical closure
Rosero comments that if there is a technical closure, the translations of the text, legal review, and the commercial agreement could be signed.
The next procedure is for the text to be validated by the Constitutional Court and approved by the National Assembly for its entry into force.
The Ecuadorian Federation of Exporters calculates an increase in potential exports of USD 367 million. These would represent four times the current value exported to South Korea, which was USD 89 million in 2022.
Exports to South Korea
In the last 10 years, non-oil exports to South Korea have doubled. This exchange allowed that country to consolidate itself as the sixth most important destination for Ecuador in the Asian continent.
Currently, three quarters of Ecuadorian non-oil exports are food products, where shrimp, bananas, fresh fish, and animal feed stand out.
Around USD 8 of every USD 10 non-oil imports are capital goods, intermediate goods and raw materials to modernize Ecuador’s production. In this case, South Korea is the 13th largest supplier.
In commercial exchange, more than 1,000 Ecuadorian companies are related in export or import with Korean companies.
Due to the existence of high tariff rates, Ecuadorian and Korean consumers pay more than USD 30 million each year.
Negotiations will end this April 7
This ninth round of the Strategic Economic Cooperation Agreement between Ecuador and Korea (SECA) is on the trade opening agenda of the government of President Guillermo Lasso.
The talks will last until April 7, 2023, with the expectation of having a technical closure.
The Ministry of Production informs that both representations seek to continue the negotiations that maintain substantial progress. Until Monday, April 3, seven tables were closed.
There were important advances in texts and lists of products, which represented an advance of 80% in the negotiation process.
South Korea proposed flexible and open positions
At the inauguration, Korea’s chief negotiator stressed the significant progress made by the teams since March 2022. On that date, negotiations resumed, after six years of stagnation.
Kwon said on Monday that while the timing is right, it cannot be detrimental to the content. Therefore, he requested that both teams maintain flexible and open positions.
Vice Minister Legarda indicated that South Korea is a highly valued society for Ecuador. With this, many aspects of trade, investment and cooperation are shared, but above all values, which we want to deepen through the SECA.
Meetings with Korean businessmen
During these days, the delegation of Ecuadorian businessmen and Vice Minister Daniel Legarda had meetings with his counterpart from the Korean Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Energy, Keonki Roh.
Visits are made to innovation and high technology centers, free zones and large supermarket chains. In this way, the representatives of the Ecuadorian industry explore consumption trends and the potential of the country’s exportable supply.
The Ministry reports that the agreement will increase Ecuadorian non-oil exports to Korea. It is intended to have a greater participation in the Asian market. This country represents 51.3 million inhabitants and a GDP per capita of more than USD 34,000.
Korea is the first Asian country with which Ecuador began negotiations to reach a trade agreement.
China is another trading partner with which the signing of the FTA is pending in the first half of 2023, since the technical negotiations were closed in December 2022.
