Opportunities for SMEs
The Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between the European Union and the Republic of Korea, EU-Korea FTA, was adopted in 2011. It entered formally into force in December 2015 after the ratification by the EU Member States but has been provisionally applied since July 2011. The Republic of Bulgaria, as an EU Member State, duly signed and ratified the agreement.
What makes the EU-Korea FTA a breakthrough agreement is that it has opened the way of a new generation of free trade agreements involving the European Union and third trade partner countries. The agreement addresses not only traditional trade-related barriers, such as those referring to customs duties, but addresses also non-tariff barriers to trade in target sectors, thus allowing companies from both sides to explore new opportunities for market access in services and investments.
Liberalization of trade in goods (mainly agricultural and industrial goods) and services (including financial and legal services), advantageous competition policy measures, access to government procurement, protection of intellectual property rights, harmonization of the existing regulation, and sustainable development in trade are only part of the benefits stemming from the agreement.
The Chamber of Commerce and Industry Bulgaria-Korea has been constantly striving to incite companies to make use of the perspectives offered by the FTA, to catalyze mutual partnerships, and to serve as a gateway for Korean companies to the Bulgarian and European market, as well as for Bulgarian companies to the Korean and Asian market.
