Illustrative image (Source: VNA)GeneralDirector of the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency Park Chulho said the freetrade agreement (FTA) between Vietnam and the RoK took effect in 2015 with severaltax lines removed.
The FTAbetween ASEAN and the RoK has also opened up opportunities for the businesscommunity, especially Vietnam and the RoK, to realise the two-way trade targetof 70 billion USD by 2020, he added.
He citedmore than 170,000 Korean people and 5,500 enterprises living and operating inVietnam, and the RoK is also the third biggest trade partner of Vietnam, afterthe US and China.
Hong Sun,Secretary General of the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said Vietnamimported 22.4 billion USD worth of goods from the RoK.
Foreign investorsare attracted to the Vietnamese market as they see the country’s potential andrising goods consumption.
Ko Sang Goo,president of the RoK’s K&K trading company, revealed its strategy ofbringing Korean products to Vietnam in the coming years.
He said 67Korean companies will sell products subject to tax reductions under the Vietnam– RoK FTA in the Southeast Asian market at the end of 2016.
This isconsidered a big campaign to make inroads into one of the largest markets inthe region, he added.
Koreanlawyer Choi Jiung said that with current policies, there are plentyopportunities for overseas businesses to penetrate Vietnam.
He urged thetwo sides to optimise the Vietnam – RoK free trade pact for mutual benefits.
SinceSeptember 2016, a series of Korean convenience stores opened in Vietnam, anumber expected to hit 200 in the next five years.
E-Mart,Korea’s No.1 discount store, signed an agreement to inject 4 trillion VND (17.6billion USD) into Ho Chi Minh City to build a large-scale retail network.-VNA
