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Promoting South Korea trade
There was still plenty of room for Vietnamese and South Korean businesses to foster co-operation, especially in the trade and investment sectors, Deputy Head of the Ministry of Industry and Trade's Trade Promotion Agency Do Xuan Ha told a business conference held in Ha Noi on Dec. 20.
Ha said he hoped more and more Korean firms would come to Viet Nam to learn about the domestic business and investment climate in order to seek new co-operation opportunities.
Viet Nam had emerged as an economy with huge development potential, said chairman of the Korea Importers Association (KOIMA) Ju-Tae Lee, adding that the country also offered good opportunities for foreign investors.
He said that the event, with the participation of over 30 Korean firms, would help Viet Nam's exporters update the Korean market on recent developments and promote their products.
Deputy Head of the ministry's Asia-Pacific Market Department Chu Thang Trung called on South Korea to recognise Viet Nam's quarantine progress in the agro-fisheries-forestry sectors in a move to promote bilateral trade ties.
Further investment from Korean investors in the country's support industries and infrastructure facilities needed for exports was also necessary, Trung said.
As well as traditional exports such as crude oil, apparel, seafood and wooden goods, he also suggested that Viet Nam's exporters diversify their product range with a focus on value-added goods.
Yesterday also witnessed a memorandum of understanding inked between KOIMA and the Viet Nam National Vegetable, Fruit and Agricultural Products Corp (Vegetexco Viet Nam).
Under the agreement, the two sides would accelerate the exchanges of trade policies, customs procedures and market information to facilitate their members' exports. Closer co-operation in trade and investment promotion activities in each country were also included.
KOIMA is a private organisation with 8,500 members, handling over 80 per cent of Korea's total import volume. It joined hands with the Trade Promotion Agency to establish the South Korea-Viet Nam Joint Committee for Trade Co-operation in an attempt to promote bilateral trade co-operation and bring enterprises from the two countries together. The committee debuted early this year in Seoul.
South Korea is one of Viet Nam's biggest trade partners after China, Japan and the US.
Two-way trade has continued to grow from US$2 billion in 2000 to $9.2 billion in 2009 and $10 billion in the first 10 months of this year with the aims of boosting bilateral trade to $20 billion by 2015.
South Korea is also the leading source of foreign investment in Viet Nam with over 2,600 projects worth a combined $22.9 billion in progress.
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