South Korea has more best-selling products in Chile than any other country thanks mainly to a free trade agreement with the South American nation implemented seven years ago, a local trade agency said Friday.

According to the state-run Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency, South Korea currently has 40 best-selling products out of 150 key import items of Chile. Seoul also has 29 second best-selling items with 129 products ranking among the top five.

The United States has the second-largest number of top selling products, 38, with 104 of its export items ranking among the top five in Chile’s import market.

Such a strong performance by South Korean products is attributable largely to the Korea-Chile FTA, which went into effect on April 1, 2004, KOTRA said, adding improved quality and brand image are also responsible.

“Chile is a market where products from throughout the world fiercely compete as it is an open market with an actual import duty of less than 1.2 percent,” KOTRA said. “South Korean exporters must work to continue improving their products’ prices and overall competitiveness to maintain their high market share in the Chilean market.”

The market share of South Korean goods in Chile jumped to 6.41 percent last year from 2.98 percent in 2003 with their shipments spiking 462 percent to $2.95 billion during the period, KOTRA said earlier. 

(Yonhap News)