Uruguay is one of the twelve Latin American countries participating since yesterday in Seoul Forum. The aim of the forum is to increase the cooperation among South Korea, Latin America and the Caribbean.

Álvaro García, Uruguayan Minister of Economy, was at the event and confirmed his support to a Free Trade Agreement (TLC in Spanish) between Mercosur and South Korea; he did not rule out the possibility of a bilateral trade agreement between Uruguay and South Korea. He said that South Korea is one of the few countries not affected by the financial recession, and he believes that having an agreement with this country gives us a favorable position.

About Uruguay, the Minister said “that the country had an economic growth around 9% in 2008” and that a growth of 1.5% is expected for this year. He also pointed out the country’s “legal certainty and political stability” which allowed direct foreign investments to increase 15 times in 2008 compared to 1998 results”. García also highlighted the importance of Uruguay for having the main terminal port of the region.