The Republic of Korea has established a support center for businesses operating in Jakarta, Indonesia, to serve as a help desk on the bilateral free trade agreement (FTA) with the Southeast Asian country, Yonhap reported.

The Republic of Korea has established a support centre for businesses operating in Jakarta, Indonesia (Illustrative photo: Yonhap)

The centre was set up at the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA) office in the capital city of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) member state to mark the 10th anniversary of the open trade deal, the news agency quoted sources from the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy on September 5.

The RoK’s exports to the 10-member ASEAN nearly doubled to 119 billion USD last year from 61.8 billion USD in 2006.

Indonesia has not made the best use of the FTA, although the country accounts for about 40 percent of the gross domestic products of ASEAN, the ministry said.

The opening of the support center in Jakarta brings to 11 the number of the RoK's FTA support centers abroad with China having seven, Vietnam two and Colombia one.

The ministry, meanwhile, said it will hold an event in Ho Chi Minh City, Viet Nam, on September 7 to promote the bilateral free trade deal between the RoK and Viet Nam.

The FTA between the RoK and Viet Nam went into force in December 2015.

Data released by the Korea Customs Service said outbound shipments to Viet Nam surged 49.8 percent to 26.95 billion USD in the first seven months this year from a year earlier. This makes the country the RoK's third largest export destination only after China and the United States, Yonhap reported.

(Source: VNA)