SKorea, India sign broad agreement to boost trade

South Korea and India signed a
broad trade agreement Friday to slash tariffs on goods and
services in a bid to increase commerce between two of
Asia's biggest economies, AP reported.
South Korean Trade Minister Kim Jong-hoon and India's
Minister of Commerce and Industry Anand Sharma penned what
the two sides formally called a Comprehensive Economic
Partnership Agreement, but which South Korea is calling a
free trade deal.
The trade ministers hailed the achievement. Kim said it
was South Korea's first free trade accord with one of the
fast-growing BRICs countries _ Brazil, Russia, India and
China. Sharma said it was India's first comprehensive trade
agreement with a major economy.
Bilateral trade between the two countries reached $15.6
billion dollars last year and has been steadily growing. In
2002, it amounted to just $2.6 billion.
-- SPA