South Korea and six Central American countries led by El Salvador began their first round of negotiations to seal a free trade agreement in Seoul on Monday. The talks will continue through Friday.

Cheong Seung-il, director general for FTA Policy at Korea’s Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, is representing Korea while El Salvador’s Vice Minister of Energy Luz Estrella Rodriguez de Zuniga is leading the talks on behalf of the six countries.

The six Central American countries partaking in the negotiations -- El Salvador, Panama, Honduras, Costa Rica, Guatemala and Nicaragua -- combined make up the fifth-largest market in Central and South America in terms of their gross domestic product. They are members of a regional body called the Secretariat for Central American Economic Integration, or SIECA.

Throughout the five-day negotiations, the two sides will discuss nine key topics including product range, trade remedies, trade customs, government procurement, cooperation range, sanitary and phytosanitary measures as well as technical barriers to trade.

The seven-way FTA talks come as the countries’ trade ministers agreed to sign a high-level, comprehensive free trade agreement in June.

The proposed FTA, if signed, will mark the six Central American countries’ first ever trade pact with an Asian state. It is expected to significantly boost the trade volume between Korea and the six countries, which stood at just $5 billion as of 2014, according to the Trade Ministry.

Moreover, the two sides are expected to mutually benefit from the proposed FTA, as each is focused on diverging industries -- Korea is looking to export its automobiles, electronics and textiles, while the Central American countries have put forward goods like coffee, tropical fruits and metals as their main export products.

On the sidelines of the FTA negotiations, the seven countries will also participate in the South Korea-Central America Business Forum organized by the Korea International Trade Association.

The forum will introduce investment opportunities and policies in the Central American countries to Korean companies and open up a discussion on establishing cooperative measures in the region’s energy industry.

“We hope to build a mutually beneficial FTA which can boost Central America’s high growth potential,” Cheong said, adding that the Trade Ministry “hopes to provide substantial support to Korean companies through the business forum.”

By Sohn Ji-young (jys@heraldcorp.com)