South Korea, Indonesia to hold fifth round of FTA negotiations next week

South Korea and Indonesia will hold a fresh round of negotiations for a bilateral free trade agreement (FTA) here next week, the Seoul government announced Friday. The talks, the fifth of their kind, will be held for six days from Sunday in Seoul, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. The negotiations for what is called a comprehensive economic partnership agreement (CEPA), a de facto FTA, were launched in March 2012 with their fourth round held July in Indonesia's Bali island. "At the fifth round of meeting, the two countries plan to hold in-depth discussions on all related sectors, such as products, service, investment, customs, regulations and cooperation, for progress in their negotiations," the trade ministry said in a press release. Indonesia is part of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations, with which South Korea already has an FTA. A bilateral trade deal will help enhance South Korea's economic relations with the Southeast Asian state, ministry officials said earlier. As of 2012, Indonesia was South Korea's eighth largest trading partner, with the trade volume reaching US$29.6 billion, according to the ministry. Indonesia is also the world's seventh largest destination for South Korean investors.