Bilateral trade between Vietnam and South Korea reached US$62.6 billion in the first 11 months of 2018, making Vietnam the fourth largest trading partner of the Northeast Asian country, behind China, the US and Japan, the government portal reported.
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During the period, Vietnam imported goods worth US$44.5 billion from South Korea, up 1.9% year-on-year.
Vietnam was South Korea’s eighth largest trading partner in 2014, and later becomes fourth since the free trade agreement between Vietnam and South Korea (VKFTA) came into effect on December 20, 2015.
South Korea is Vietnam’s second largest foreign investor with total registered capital of US$6.8 billion in the first 11 months, up 22.3% year-on-year.
Vietnam’s Minister of Industry and Trade Tran Tuan Anh on December 6 signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with South Korea’s Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy Sung Yunmo for an action plan to bring bilateral trade to US$100 billion by 2020 towards a better balance
The legal document is part of broad agreements between leaders of the two countries at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meetings in Da Nang in November 2017.
Under the MoU, from now on until 2020, South Korea would support Vietnamese enterprises to enhance competitiveness in fields of accessories and parts, automobile, textile, footwear and electronics, while facilitating agricultural trade between the two sides.
