RoK’s imports from Vietnam see sharp increase

The Republic of Korea (RoK)’s imports from Vietnam increased by 22% to US$18.1 billion in the first 11 months of 2018, owing to the demand for screens and electronic parts manufactured at the RoK factories in Vietnam, announced the RoK’s Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE) on December 19.

Vietnamese workers at a factory of Samsung Electronics Vietnam.
Vietnamese workers at a factory of Samsung Electronics Vietnam.

Two-way trade between the two countries reached US$62.6 billion by the end of November, making Vietnam become the fourth largest trading partner of the RoK, after China, the United States and Japan.

The RoK’s 11-month exports to Vietnam rose by 1.9% year on year to US$44.5 billion, the ministry said.

Vietnam was the eighth largest trading partner of the RoK in 2014, but has risen to become the fourth largest since the RoK-Vietnam bilateral trade agreement took effect in December 2015.

The RoK is currently the no. 1 foreign investor in Vietnam, pouring US$2.81 billion worth of direct investment into the Southeast Asian nation in the first nine months of the year, up 24.5% compared to the same period in 2017. An increasing number of RoK companies, including Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., have constructed factories in Vietnam to manufacture advanced technological products, including semiconductors, screens and mobile phones.

Most recently, on December 6, Vietnam and the RoK signed an action programme aimed at the goal of increasing bilateral trade revenues to US$100 billion by 2020. The programme is of great significance, indirectly contributing to shaping a number of Vietnam’s spearhead economic sectors, promoting the country’s exports and diversifying imported products and choices of consumers.