BOGOTA, June 25 (Xinhua) -- Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos and his South Korean counterpart Lee Myung-bak said here Monday that the two countries had finished Free Trade Agreement (FTA) talks.

"When we started to expand our economy 20 years ago, I went to Asia as Colombia's first foreign trade minister," Santos said. "One of the countries I visited was South Korea, hoping to secure a market and a possible free trade agreement."

"Now that dream has come true," he said, adding that an agreement would be signed in the next few months.

Lee said the two countries shared similar democratic values and a belief in the market economy.

The two leaders also exchanged ideas on investment in the fields of science, technology, environment, energy, mining and petrochemicals, and talked of possible military cooperation, Santos said.

The Colombian government estimates the FTA with South Korea will boost economic growth in 2012 by an additional 0.5 percentage.

According to official data, trade between the two countries reached nearly 2 billion U.S. dollars in 2011.

June 25, 2012

Source: Xinhua

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