South Korea, Indonesia make significant progress in free trade talks

South Korea and Indonesia have made \"significant\" progress in their negotiations that started last year for a bilateral free trade deal, Seoul\'s top economic policymaker said Friday. Both started negotiations for what is called a comprehensive economic partnership agreement (CEPA) in March 2012. CEPA is the equivalent of a free trade agreement designed to lower tariff barriers on trade. \"We have made significant progress since the launch of negotiations with Indonesia for CEPA,\" Finance Minister Hyun Oh-seok said during a meeting to discuss trade-related affairs with other policymakers. \"We need to accelerate negotiations further so that we can present a visible achievement in time for the president\'s visit to Indonesia next month,\" he added.