WELLINGTON, March 16 -- New Zealand Prime Minister John Key will visit the Republic of Korea (ROK) next week to mark the signing of the New Zealand-South KoreaFree Trade Agreement( FTA).

Key said he and South Korean President Park Geun-hye would witness the signing of the agreement by trade ministers on March 23 in Seoul.

"The signing of the FTA represents a historic milestone in New Zealand's relationship with (South) Korea," Key said in a statement Monday.

"The FTA will help New Zealand businesses maintain their competitive position in the (South) Korean market. Tariffs will be progressively eliminated on 98 percent of New Zealand's current exports, which will create an estimated duty saving of 65 million NZ dollars (47.83 million U.S. dollars) in the first year alone."

The ROK was New Zealand's sixth largest export destination for goods and services and eighth largest import source of goods and services, with total two-way trade in goods of 4 billion NZ dollars (2.94 billion U.S. dollars) in 2014.

A delegation of 37 businessmen would accompany Key and Trade Minister Tim Groser.