India Raises Market Access Issues in Korea

The matter of market access in Korea was highlighted during a meeting between Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal and Korean Trade Minister Yeo Han-koo. Certain trade groups believe that due to various rigorous regulatory constraints in Korea, Indian products have difficulty in gaining market access.

"These hurdles must be overcome, and certain sacrifices must be made on both sides," added the official. 

Bovine meat, grapes, pomegranate, okra, and eggplants are among the commodities suffering market access challenges in Korea. The Indian side also expressed concern over the country's growing trade deficit with Korea. The deficit has risen from USD 5 billion in the year 2008-09 to USD 8 billion in the year 2020-21. 

In January 2010, both nations implemented the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA), a type of free-trade agreement. 

In 2020-21, bilateral trade between the countries was valued at USD 17.5 billion. In the previous fiscal, India's imports totaled USD 128 billion, whereas exports totaled only USD 4.7 billion. 

During the meeting, India sought contributions from Korean firms in industries such as semiconductors, chemical batteries for electric cars, and technological textiles. 

The two ministers came to an agreement to address difficulties voiced by industry on both sides and given instructions to their respective negotiating teams to satisfy on a regular in order to conclude the CEPA up-gradation negotiations as quickly as possible in a timely manner, constructing on support from relevant parties, in attempt to try to achieve the objective of USD 50 billion before 2030 agreed at the summit meeting in 2018, the ministry of commerce said in a statement.