The President of the Government is committed to a “modernization” of the free trade agreement between the European Union and South Korea, which he will take into account during his EU Presidency in 2023
The President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, has assured that Spain will grow by 4.4 percent and that by 2023 it will do so above the most advanced economies. In addition, he has predicted that he could even weather an economic recession that is already hitting some European countries.
This was underlined by the president during his closing speech at the Spain-Korea Business Forum that was held this Thursday at the Four Seasons Hotel in Seoul, in which he also highlighted the advantageous position of Spain in allusion to the energy dependence of many European countries regarding Russia.
“Spain is going to grow by 4.4 percent and the Eurozone will grow slightly above 3 percent”, Sánchez has asserted. Likewise, he has highlighted three strengths that, in his opinion, highlight Spain’s resilience capacity: the evolution of employment and the increase in permanent contracts; industrial production data “well above” of the main European economies and the growth of the export of goods that, as he has cited, this year have grown by more than 20 percent.
Advance in bilateral trade
On another point, the president stressed that both Spain and South Korea share “two fundamental values” which are the “desire for progress” that its citizens have and the “belief” in the sustainability of the environment and digitization as “sources of opportunity”.
Having said this, Sánchez has advocated “continuing to develop commercial ties”, also in investment, and has opted for a “modernization” of the Free Trade Agreement between the European Union and South Korea that the Government of Spain will take into account during its Presidency of the EU in the year 2023.
In this context, the head of the Executive wanted to highlight that relations between Spain and Korea have an “upward trend” thanks to aspects such as “diversification towards technological and innovative sectors”.
Thus, he has pointed out that, despite the fact that bilateral trade fell in the hardest years of the pandemic, compared to the “historical highs” of 2019, the most recent data “they point to a recovery in trade” above “pre-coronavirus levels” “before the end of the year”.