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Wednesday October 24, 10:03 AMFinance Minister Calls for Fast Approval of S. Korea-U.S. FtaSEOUL, Oct 24 Asia Pulse - South Korea's finance minister has called on U.S. business leaders to support a fast ratification of the free trade agreement (FTA) reached by the two countries in June, officials said Wednesday.The call was made in a roundtable meeting held at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in Washington Tuesday between Kwon O-kyu and U.S. business executives such as Stephen Pelletier, chairman of Prudential International Investments, the Ministry of Finance and Economy said. Some U.S. Democrats, now controlling the U.S. Congress, have voiced strong opposition to the June pact, calling for Seoul to fully reopen its beef market to U.S. exporters. South Korea partially lifted its three-year ban on imports of U.S. beef in early 2006, agreeing to buy only boneless products from cattle under 30 months old. The imports, however, have been suspended several times due to discovery of backbones in the shipments. At the meeting, Kwon stressed that the pact would provide many business opportunities for foreign investors and emphasized the economic benefits that could arise from the deal in the financial, auto, agriculture and service sectors. Participants at the meeting included executives from Citigroup, Gale, Cargill, Microsoft and Pfizer, the ministry said. As part of similar efforts, Kwon has also held separate talks with leading U.S. lawmakers, including Democrat Max Baucus, chairman of the U.S. Senate Finance Committee, on Tuesday and Republican Charles Grassley, a ranking member of the committee, on Monday. The finance minister also held a separate meeting with U.S. Trade Representative Susan Schwab on Monday and pledged to make stronger efforts to facilitate a quick ratification of the deal. (Yonhap) |
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