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GCC, South Korea Resume Free Trade Talks on Monday

Trade Minister Yeo Han-koo (L) and the Gulf Cooperation Council's Secretary-General Nayef Falah M. Al-Hajraf posing for a photo after their agreement to resume talks for a free trade agreement in Riyadh on Jan. 19, 2022. (Yonhap)
Trade Minister Yeo Han-koo (L) and the Gulf Cooperation Council's Secretary-General Nayef Falah M. Al-Hajraf posing for a photo after their agreement to resume talks for a free trade agreement in Riyadh on Jan. 19, 2022. (Yonhap)
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GCC, South Korea Resume Free Trade Talks on Monday

Trade Minister Yeo Han-koo (L) and the Gulf Cooperation Council's Secretary-General Nayef Falah M. Al-Hajraf posing for a photo after their agreement to resume talks for a free trade agreement in Riyadh on Jan. 19, 2022. (Yonhap)
Trade Minister Yeo Han-koo (L) and the Gulf Cooperation Council's Secretary-General Nayef Falah M. Al-Hajraf posing for a photo after their agreement to resume talks for a free trade agreement in Riyadh on Jan. 19, 2022. (Yonhap)

South Korea and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) will kick off the fourth round of official talks for a bilateral free trade agreement (FTA) in Seoul on Monday, said Seoul's Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.

The South Korean Yonhap news agency reported that the four-day talks will resume after a 13-year hiatus in a move to forge deeper economic ties.

The six GCC countries, namely Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Kuwait, Bahrain, the Sultanate of Oman and Qatar supply South Korea with 59.8 percent of its crude oil imports, Yonhap reported.

South Korea and the GCC agreed to push for a trade agreement in 2007 and had three rounds of talks between 2008 and 2009. But the negotiations have since stalled.

However, the two sides agreed to resume these talks when President Moon Jae-in visited Saudi Arabia last year.

In January, Minister for Trade Yeo Han-koo and GCC Secretary-General Nayef al-Hajraf announced the resumption of FTA talks in Riyadh.

According to government data, the trade volume between the two sides reached $46.6 billion in 2020.

The Ministry's FTA negotiator Lee Kyung-sik is expected to attend the talks as a representative of the South Korean delegation, as well as head of the Gulf negotiating team Abdul Rahman bin Ahmed al-Harbi as a representative of the GCC.

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IMF Approves Third Review of Sri Lanka's $2.9 Bln Bailout

Peter Breuer, Senior Mission Chief for Sri Lanka at the IMF along with Katsiaryna Svirydzenka, Deputy Mission Chief for Sri Lanka at the IMF and Martha Tesfaye Woldemichael, Deputy Mission Chief for Sri Lanka at the IMF, attend a press conference organized by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in Colombo, Sri Lanka, November 23, 2024. REUTERS/Thilina Kaluthotage
Peter Breuer, Senior Mission Chief for Sri Lanka at the IMF along with Katsiaryna Svirydzenka, Deputy Mission Chief for Sri Lanka at the IMF and Martha Tesfaye Woldemichael, Deputy Mission Chief for Sri Lanka at the IMF, attend a press conference organized by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in Colombo, Sri Lanka, November 23, 2024. REUTERS/Thilina Kaluthotage
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IMF Approves Third Review of Sri Lanka's $2.9 Bln Bailout

Peter Breuer, Senior Mission Chief for Sri Lanka at the IMF along with Katsiaryna Svirydzenka, Deputy Mission Chief for Sri Lanka at the IMF and Martha Tesfaye Woldemichael, Deputy Mission Chief for Sri Lanka at the IMF, attend a press conference organized by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in Colombo, Sri Lanka, November 23, 2024. REUTERS/Thilina Kaluthotage
Peter Breuer, Senior Mission Chief for Sri Lanka at the IMF along with Katsiaryna Svirydzenka, Deputy Mission Chief for Sri Lanka at the IMF and Martha Tesfaye Woldemichael, Deputy Mission Chief for Sri Lanka at the IMF, attend a press conference organized by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in Colombo, Sri Lanka, November 23, 2024. REUTERS/Thilina Kaluthotage

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) approved the third review of Sri Lanka's $2.9 billion bailout on Saturday but warned that the economy remains vulnerable.
In a statement, the global lender said it would release about $333 million, bringing total funding to around $1.3 billion, to the crisis-hit South Asian nation. It said signs of an economic recovery were emerging, Reuters reported.
In a note of caution, it said "the critical next steps are to complete the commercial debt restructuring, finalize bilateral agreements with official creditors along the lines of the accord with the Official Creditor Committee and implement the terms of the other agreements. This will help restore Sri Lanka's debt sustainability."
Cash-strapped Sri Lanka plunged into its worst financial crisis in more than seven decades in 2022 with a severe dollar shortage sending inflation soaring to 70%, its currency to record lows and its economy contracting by 7.3% during the worst of the fallout and by 2.3% last year.
"Maintaining macroeconomic stability and restoring debt sustainability are key to securing Sri Lanka's prosperity and require persevering with responsible fiscal policy," the IMF said.
The IMF bailout secured in March last year helped stabilize economic conditions. The rupee has risen 11.3% in recent months and inflation disappeared, with prices falling 0.8% last month.
The island nation's economy is expected to grow 4.4% this year, the first increase in three years, according to the World Bank.
However, Sri Lanka still needs to complete a $12.5 billion debt restructuring with bondholders, which President Anura Kumara Dissanayake aims to finalize in December.
Sri Lanka will enter into individual agreements with bilateral creditors including Japan, China and India needed to complete a $10 billion debt restructuring, Dissanayake said.
He won the presidency in September, and his leftist coalition won a record 159 seats in the 225-member parliament in a general election last week.