Seoul: Top trade officials of South Korea and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) agreed Friday on an early implementation of their comprehensive economic partnership agreement (CEPA), Seoul's industry ministry said.

According to Yonhap News Agency, the agreement was made during a virtual meeting between Trade Minister Yeo Han-koo and his UAE counterpart, Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi, just a few days after the National Assembly ratified the trade pact. The bilateral deal will take effect on May 1.

Under the CEPA, the two countries plan to lift tariffs on more than 90 percent of goods trade over the next 10 years, including Korea's exports of foodstuffs, cosmetics, and defense products, and the UAE's exports of crude oil. It will also help Korea strengthen its energy and resource cooperation with the UAE, which is important in the current times of intensifying global supply chain uncertainties.

In Friday's meeting, Yeo asked the UAE, the largest naphtha supplier to Seoul, to help Seoul secure supplies of the material, while also asking for support to Korean companies exporting to the country, the ministry said. South Korea has been facing disruptions in naphtha supplies since the start of the United States' war against Iran, which led to the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz.

"The Korea-UAE CEPA, Seoul's first free trade agreement with an oil-producing country in the Middle East, will serve as an important opportunity for the two countries to elevate their economic cooperation," Yeo said in a press release, vowing continued efforts to expand strategic ties with the UAE.