South Korea and Turkey initialed a free trade agreement for their investment and service sectors Thursday, which will complement a trade pact that went into effect last year.

The new South Korea-Turkey FTA on service and investment will soon undergo reviews by each side, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.

“The two countries have agreed to officially sign the agreement in early 2015, and they plan to work for its implementation by undertaking domestic procedures that include ratification by the countries’ respective legislatures,” it said in a press release.

A successful implementation of the FTA in the two sectors will complete the bilateral FTA negotiations that began in April 2010.

The countries had originally sought to hammer out a comprehensive free trade deal covering all sectors, but decided to separate the deal after their negotiations hit a stumbling block over Ankara’s reluctance to liberalize its service and investment markets. (Yonhap)