Le Hai An, Deputy Director of the Ministry of Industry and Trade's Asia-Pacific Market Department, made the statement at a workshop entitled “Vietnam-RoK FTA: Opportunities and Challenges” in Ho Chi Minh City on October 15.
Bilateral trade between Vietnam and the RoK has increased considerably over the past decade, from US$0.5 billion in 1992 to US$28.8 billion in 2014, An said, adding that the RoK had become Vietnam’s third largest trade partner as of 2014, and the Southeast Asian country is currently the RoK’s sixth largest importer.
Despite a strong growth in Vietnam’s exports to the RoK in recent years, Vietnam is still registering an unfavourable balance of trade with the RoK, according to Bui Thi Thanh An, Deputy Director of the ministry’s Trade Promotion Agency. For example, bilateral trade revenues reached nearly US$24 billion in August 2015, up 31% against the same period of 2014, while Vietnam imported US$18.6 billion worth of commodities from the RoK, up 33.8%.
Vietnamese enterprises have yet to take full advantage of business and investment opportunities in the RoK market over the past few years, experts said, while highlighting that the Vietnam-RoK FTA will open up numerous opportunities for import-export activities as well as investment co-operation for the two countries’ companies.
The agreement also functions as an important premise to help Vietnamese businesses to effectively exploit export markets in the context of international economic integration, thereby contributing to reducing Vietnam’s trade deficit situation, they added.
The Ministry of Industry and Trade recommended that Vietnamese enterprise drive their focus on some industries and areas with high possibilities of export enhancement to the RoK market via the Vietnam-RoK FTA, including garments and footwear, farm fresh products and processing, household appliances and cereal processing.
