More opportunities for Vietnam-RoK trade ties

The assessment was made at seminar in Hanoi on December 5 with the participation of Vietnamese firms and 50 Korean importers.

Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Do Thang Hai emphasised that the friendship and cooperative ties between Vietnam and the RoK have developed strongly, especially since the two countries established strategic cooperative partnership in 2009.

Two-way trade turnover has increased rapidly over the past decade with an average annual growth rate of 23.4%. In the first 10 months of this year, it hit nearly US$24 billion, a year-on-year rise of 5%.

Many Vietnamese high-quality products are much sought after by Korean consumers, such as seafood, agricultural products, garment, wooden furniture, processed food, mobile phones and electronic components.

A number of bilateral and multilateral trade agreements have positively contributed to boosting bilateral trade and investment relations. Particularly, the Vietnam-Rok Free Trade Agreement (VKFTA) which is being negotiated and is likely to be signed late this year will open more opportunities for both sides.

Shinn Tea Yong, Chairman of the Korea Importers Association (KOIMA), said the association, with about 8,000 member businesses, has recently signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on trade cooperation with the Vietnamese Ministry of Industry and Trade. It sends business delegations to Vietnam to seek cooperative opportunities every year and helps Vietnamese firms to find potential Korean partners.

Yong stated that the eighth round of negotiations on VKFTA in November obtained much progress. He expected that under the VKFTA framework the listed 19,000 Korean and 6,000 Vietnamese products will enjoy preferential treatment and positive support.

Vietnam is one of the RoK’s important trade partners. The current trade imbalance between the two countries will be dealt with in the future, Yong hoped.