Quick approval of pending FTAs at parliament critical for exports： Finance Minis

And after lawmakers from rival parties agreed to pass the free trade deal with China on Monday，... the government once again... is urging politicians for the swift passage of other bills. The finance minister also addressed solving thorny issues such as youth unemployment. Hwang Ji－hye has the details. Korea′s traditional growth engine exports... have dropped every month this year，... causing major headaches for economic policymakers. Last month saw the biggest drop in exports in more than six years，... casting a dark cloud over the country′s investments and production as well. To combat the trend， Finance Minister Choi Kyung－hwan... called on lawmakers at an economy－related ministers′ meeting on Friday... to swiftly pass pending free trade deals at the parliament. ″In order to raise our export competitiveness and breathe new life into local exporters， the government is desperately anticipating the passage of four pending free trade pacts at the National Assembly， including the one with China.″ Also up for discussion... was boosting jobs overseas... for the youth. The government aims to double the number of young Koreans working abroad from the annual five－thousand as of last year... to ten－thousand in 2017. ″The government aims to diversify the types of overseas jobs to include technicians and jobs in prosperous industries… as currently， most are from the service sector which does not require high skill levels.″ ″The government will adopt different training programs for young job seekers interested in working in one of the 15 designated countries... identified as having ample job opportunities. The countries include the United States， Japan and Singapore. Hwang Ji－hye， Arirang News.″