South Korea, Indonesia make significant progress in free trade talks

South Korea and Indonesia have made "significant" progress in their negotiations that started last year for a bilateral free trade deal, Seoul's top economic policymaker said Friday. Both started negotiations for what is called a comprehensive economic partnership agreement (CEPA) in March 2012. CEPA is the equivalent of a free trade agreement designed to lower tariff barriers on trade. "We have made significant progress since the launch of negotiations with Indonesia for CEPA," Finance Minister Hyun Oh-seok said during a meeting to discuss trade-related affairs with other policymakers. "We need to accelerate negotiations further so that we can present a visible achievement in time for the president's visit to Indonesia next month," he added.