The centre is tasked with publicising the FTA-related contents, providing businesses with accurate and sufficient consultations and information on the FTA, and assisting them to deal with difficulties and obstacles relating to non-tariff trade barriers and issuance of certificates of origin.
The VKFTA, which officially took effect December 20, 2015, has opened up numerous opportunities for co-operation and investment between Vietnam and the RoK, said Vietnamese Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry Do Thang Hai.
Two-way trade has recorded an annual growth rate of 23% over the past decade, he noted, adding that the RoK remained among Vietnam’s three largest trade partners in 2015 with bilateral trade turnover reaching US$34.3 billion, up 29% against the previous year.
The VKFTA embraces many areas including rules of origin, customs facilitation, trade remedies, hygiene and food safety measures, plant quarantine, technical barriers to trade, services and intellectual property, among others, Hai clarified.
He expressed his hope that the Korea-Vietnam FTA Support Centre would favour businesses of both countries to take advantage of opportunities and enhance bilateral trade and investment relations.
For his part, KOTRA President Kim Jae-hong hailed the centre as a platform to support enterprises to flexibly apply FTA terms in order to create growth momentum for their export activities to the Chinese, US and European markets.
On the occasion, KOTRA and Directorate for Standards, Metrology and Quality of Vietnam signed a memorandum of understanding on reducing burdens of administrative procedures for RoK businesses in relevant areas and transferring technology on the RoK’s safety accreditation system to the Vietnamese agency.
