HÀ NỘI — Opportunities to strengthen trade ties between Việt Nam and the Republic of Korea (RoK) rose during a variety of partnership programmes held on March 22, during President Moon Jae-in’s state visit.

The Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT) organised a Việt Nam-RoK business programme in hope of enhancing bilateral trade activities and cooperation between the two country’s enterprises, via exchanges of information and investment promotion.

Đỗ Kim Lang, deputy head of the MoIT’s Trade Promotion Agency, said since the 2015 Việt Nam-RoK Free Trade Agreement (VKFTA), the RoK has established itself as Việt Nam’s third largest trading partner, just behind China and the US.

In 2017, total bilateral trade turnover had reached US$61.5 billion, up 41 per cent year on year, he added.

Economic, trade and investment relations between Việt Nam and RoK have been constantly developing, with the latter now an important strategic partner and leading investor for the former.

Notably, in the field of agriculture, Lang’s department has focused on supporting Vietnamese enterprises to export to the Korean market, through commercial transaction programmes and exhibitions such as March 22’s event.

“I hope trade promotion programmes such as this will help firms from both countries understand each other better, in order to seek reliable partners and effective cooperation,” said Lang.

According to Bùi Việt Trường, Third Secretary of Office for Trade Affairs under the Vietnamese Embassy in the RoK , the RoK spends an average of $33 billion annually on agricultural and aquatic imports.

This means Vietnamese firms can push for seafood and fruits exports to this market, beyond traditional goods such as shrimp, catfish, coconut or pineapple.

However, he warned when Vietnamese enterprises export products to the RoK, they must pay attention not only to quantity but also quality and packaging, especially with the RoK’s strict quarantine regulations.

Speaking to the Vietnam News Agency, Nguyễn Minh Dương, director of Minh Dương One Member Co Ltd, said that his company has been distributed dried agricultural products in Việt Nam via modern distribution channels such as Big C or Vingroup, but he hoped to expand business to other markets such as China and the RoK in relatively large volumes.

The MoIT on March 22 oversaw a direct introduction of two large RoK retailers and distributors, K-holdings and Coupang Group, to a number of local agricultural producers.

Accordingly, the two RoK firms are in need of imports such as spices, sauces, rice products, processed seafood, dried meat cuts and fruits.

Both corporations’ purpose is to search for qualified Vietnamese agricultural products to introduce to the RoK’s market.

Coupang Group is considered Korea’s number one leading online shopping business, who also hopes to sell at least 1,800 Vietnamese products on their website by 2019, while K-holdings is a leading enterprise in the field of procurement and distribution of agricultural and food products.

Another promotion programme on March 22 was the Vietnam Silicon Valley Accelerator’s Global Demo Day, in collaboration with Korea’s Born2Global Centre, focusing on matching venture capitalists to potential startups between both countries. — VNS