Vietnam among RoK export spotlights in March

In March, exports from the RoK to Vietnam enjoyed an increase of 13.5% compared to the same period last year. The figure was followed by the European Union with 12.7%, and India with 11.7%.

The report showed that the RoK’s overall export turnover reached US$42.9 billion last month, a drop of 8.2% from a year earlier. It was the 15th consecutive month the RoK’s exports fell.

Exports to China, the world's single-largest market for RoK products, dwindled for nine consecutive months, plunging 12.2% on-year in March; but the rate of decline is slowing, from a 21.5% cut in January to a 12.9% drop in the following month, it said.

Vietnam and the RoK signed a free trade agreement in May last year, under which Vietnam will remove its import duties on 89.9%of all products from the RoK over a 15-year period, following its implementation. 

The RoK will do the same on 95.4%, or 11,668 out of the total 12,232 products imported from Vietnam. 

Trade between the two countries exceeded US$26 billion in 2014, the highest value since the two established diplomatic ties in 1992.