(LEAD) Lee to visit Cambodia, UAE for regional summits, economic talks

SEOUL, Nov. 15 (Yonhap) -- South Korean President Lee Myung-bak will visit Cambodia next week for a series of regional summits with the newly mandated U.S. president, Barack Obama, and other leaders about freer trade and other cooperation in the region, his office announced Thursday.

   The three-day visit to Phnom Penh starting Sunday is part of Lee's two-nation trip that will also take him to the United Arab Emirates for talks expected to focus on increasing atomic power and other energy cooperation between the two countries.

   In Phnom Penh, Lee will attend a trio of annual meetings: a summit with the 10 member nations of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN); a meeting between ASEAN and South Korea, China and Japan; and a meeting of the East Asia Summit (EAS) forum.

   Both Lee and Obama are scheduled to attend the 18-nation EAS forum. It will be their first meeting since the American president won reelection last week, though it is unclear whether they will be able to find time for a separate bilateral meeting because of tight schedules, officials said.

   The most concrete outcome from the series of summits is expected to be a declaration among 16 of the 18 EAS member countries to launch free trade negotiations to forge what is dubbed the "Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership" or RCEP.

   The EAS forum consists of the 10 ASEAN states, South Korea, China, Japan, the United States, Russia, Australia, New Zealand. All but the U.S. and Russia are committed to attending the negotiations aimed mainly at lowering barriers to trade and promoting freer flow of goods and services.

   The 16 countries have a combined gross domestic product (GDP) of US$19.7 trillion won, and their trade volume reaches $10.1 trillion with their combined population amounting to some 3.4 billion, according to the Korea Institute for International Economic Policy (KIEP),
The regional free trade pact would bring about up to $19.46 billion worth of economic benefits to South Korea, and raise the country's economic growth by 1.76 percent in 10 years after the deal takes effect. The projection is based on the assumption that tariffs on all products, excluding rice, are removed.

   Lee's summit with ASEAN is expected to center on reviewing recent progress in relations between the two sides, such as the conclusion of a free trade deal and the 2010 establishment of a strategic partnership, while discussing ways to further deepen the ties, officials said.

   ASEAN has emerged as an increasingly important region to South Korea, with a combined population of 600 million and the GDP totaling US$2.15 trillion, officials said. The 10-nation region is South Korea's second-largest trade and investment partner, with two-way trade volume amounting to US$124.9 billion last year.

   South Korea also won construction orders worth US$12.8 billion from ASEAN last year. The number of visitors between the two sides has also been on the rise, with more than 5 million people visiting the other side last year, officials said.

   The ASEAN plus three summit, involving ASEAN nations plus South Korea, China and Japan, is expected to discuss expanding the volume of a regional currency swap agreement, known as the Chiang Mai Initiative Multilateralization, to strengthen the regional financial safety net.

   Other topics include adopting a new road map for the Asian Bond Markets Initiative and ensuring the implementation of the "ASEAN Plus Three Emergency Rice Reserve," a food stock formed with contributions from the members to be used when the supply becomes unstable.

   While in Cambodia, Lee is also expected to hold a bilateral summit with Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao.

   On Tuesday, Lee will head to Abu Dhabi of the United Arab Emirates for summit talks with President Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan about increasing cooperation in various areas, especially atomic power plant, energy, trade and investment, and science and technology.

   Lee and Abu Dhabi's Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan are also scheduled to attend the groundbreaking ceremony for two power-generating nuclear reactors, Barakah nuclear power plant unit 1 and 2, to be built by South Korean firms.

   South Korea and the UAE have strengthened their ties in recent years. The construction of two reactors is part of a massive US$40 billion contract awarded to South Korean in 2009 to build a total of four nuclear reactors in the Middle Eastern nation.

   In March this year, a South Korean consortium led by the state-run Korea National Oil Corp. also signed a contract with the Abu Dhabi National Oil Co. to develop three oil fields in the UAE, which are expected to yield up to 43,000 barrels of oil per day.

Lee said Thursday South Korea and the UAE also plan to sign a memorandum of understanding calling for the Middle Eastern nation to send members of its armed forces and their families to South Korea for medical treatment if they fall ill with cancer or other serious diseases.

   Lee made the remark while stressing the importance of "medical tourism," during a meeting with tourism industry officials to mark the breaking of the 10 million mark in the number of annual foreign tourists to South Korea.

Sourced: english.yonhapnews