Korea-Malaysia Resume FTA Negotiations After 4 Years 6 Months... Agree to Include Services, Investment, and Digital Sectors in Talks

South Korea and Malaysia will resume negotiations on a Free Trade Agreement (FTA). This comes 4 years and 6 months after the 3rd official negotiation in September 2019.

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy announced that Jeong In-kyo, the Chief Negotiator for Trade, held a trade ministerial meeting with Tunku Zafrul Aziz, Minister of Investment, Trade and Industry of Malaysia, in Kuala Lumpur on the 26th, declaring the resumption of the Korea-Malaysia FTA negotiations that had been suspended since 2019.

Both sides agreed to conduct comprehensive FTA negotiations by adding sectors such as services, investment, digital, green, and bio to the goods sector that was being negotiated in 2019.

Malaysia ranks 3rd in trade and 4th in investment among ASEAN countries with South Korea. South Korea imports natural gas, semiconductors, and petroleum products from resource-rich Malaysia, and exports petroleum products, semiconductors, and fine chemical raw materials, forming a mutually complementary trade structure. The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy expects that once the Korea-Malaysia FTA is concluded, South Korea’s trade and investment base with ASEAN will be strengthened.

Prior to declaring the resumption of FTA negotiations, both sides agreed at the 'Korea-Malaysia Trade Ministerial Meeting' to establish the 'Korea-Malaysia Trade Ministerial Dialogue,' an economic cooperation platform to advance economic cooperation between the two countries. They also agreed to closely cooperate in key supply chains and new industries.

Following this, Chief Negotiator Jeong held a meeting with about 10 local companies and ground staff to listen to on-site voices regarding investment incentives and customs clearance difficulties, and discussed measures to resolve investment and entry obstacles.