South Korean Prime Minister Chung Hong-won (C) talks with family members of missing passengers onboard the sunken passenger ship Sewol at a makeshift accommodation at a gym in Jindo May 1, 2014. Chung announced his resignation last Sunday over the governm
South Korean Prime Minister Chung Hong-won (C) talks with family members of missing passengers onboard the sunken passenger ship Sewol at a makeshift accommodation at a gym in Jindo May 1, 2014. Chung announced his resignation last Sunday over the government response to the ferry disaster, in which it was first announced that everyone had been rescued, focusing attention on poor regulatory controls. The Sewol ferry sank on a routine trip south from the port of Incheon to the traditional holiday island of Jeju on April 16. More than 300 people, most of them students and teachers on a field trip from the Danwon High School on the outskirts of Seoul, have died or are missing and presumed dead. REUTERS/Yonhap REUTERS/Yonhap

New Zealand's long-awaited free trade agreement with South Korea will be inked soon. At Seoul, the officials have concluded the ninth round of talks on Friday. Diplomatic sources in New Zealand and Korea indicated that the deal is imminent with both sides seeing no thorny issues in delaying a substantial agreement.

The New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT) said it was optimistic about reaching an agreement with Korea, and negotiators have made considerable progress, reports Stuff.Co.Nz. South Korean Prime Minister Chung Hong-won has already said his country would push for free-trade agreements with China, Vietnam and New Zealand before the yearend to expand its presence overseas.

The same is the perspective of New Zealand Prime Minister John Key who emphasised during the election campaign that the country must encourage free trade to gain access to big international markets. He also hinted the FTA deal with South Korean was too close.

Fifth Trading Partner

South Korea is New Zealand's fifth-largest trading partner, with total trade value at $3.59 billion in 2013, according to MFAT. The country also sends a large number of foreign students and overseas visitors to New Zealand. The FTA talks with South Korea started in 2009 and got stuck after Korea's concern about the impact of New Zealand's agricultural exports.

New Zealand's competitors in South Korea are Australia and Canada for agricultural products. They have already activated FTAs with Seoul. Now New Zealand faces the challenge of Tariff elimination on agricultural products as it had been arguing that it does not compete with sensitive Korean produce.

Business Welcomes FTA

Meanwhile, a survey has revealed that New Zealand business leaders and professionals are very keen on free trade agreements, with 81 percent of them identifying new agreements bringing substantial opportunities for growth. The findings were revealed in a survey by Grant Thornton, whose findings also coincided with New Zealand's successful bid for a seat in the UN Security Council. New Zealand Foreign Affairs Minister Murray McCully had said the membership in UN Security Council will be an opportunity to discuss trade and economic relationships with a number of countries.

According to Greg Thompson of Grant Thornton New Zealand, all the five permanent members in the UNSC such as China, France, Russia, U.K and the U.S are huge markets. But there are non-permanent members who can be important trade partners for New Zealand, reported Tax News. At present, New Zealand is negotiating an agreement with Russia and its Customs Union partners Belarus and Kazakhstan. New Zealand's FTA negotiations with India are in progress. It started in 2010. India has market for industry raw materials and intermediate products. .