S. Korea eyes more trade with Asean

SEOUL: South Korean President Park Geun-hye on Friday offered a set of proposals to the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) as part of Seoul’s efforts to further boost ties with one of the world’s fastest-growing regions.

Park said South Korea will raise its contribution to a cooperation fund by $2 million to $7 million next year for a wide-range of projects in the region, including human resources development. Park also set $200 billion as a new target amount for trade between South Korea and Asean, compared with $135 billion last year, by facilitating their free trade agreement.