A mobilephone component factory of Samsung in Bac Ninh province (Photo: VNA)Hanoi (VNA) – Investment from the Republicof Korea (RoK) in Vietnam is being spread across a wider range of fields asKorean investors now consider Vietnam not only a for-export manufacturingworkshop but also a potential consumption market.
Park Chul Ho, General Director of the KoreanTrade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA)’s Hanoi office, made the remarkduring a recent interview with the Thoi bao Kinh te Viet Nam (Vietnam EconomicTimes).
He said Korean businesses’ interest in Vietnamis stronger than ever, noting that Vietnam with open policies has maintainedgood economic growth. The Vietnam-RoK Free Trade Agreement, effective fromDecember 2015, has also boosted bilateral trade.
Since the deal took effect, the RoK’s importsfrom Vietnam rose by 27 percent within a year and enjoyed the same growth ratein the first two months of 2017 compared to a year earlier.
Trade surged 90 times from 500 billion USD in1992 to 45.1 billion USD in 2016, turning the RoK into the third biggest tradepartner of the Southeast Asian nation last year.
At a recent meeting between Vietnamese PrimeMinister Nguyen Xuan Phuc and RoK Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se, the two sidesaimed for bilateral trade to hit up to 100 billion USD by 2020. KOTRA will stepup investment and trade promotion activities to realise the target, Park said.
As RoK investors considered Vietnam an importantmanufacturing centre, they focused investment in the manufacturing industry.However, they have been shifting to more sectors such as goods distribution andeducation.
This is a positive development as it can createopportunities for Korean firms to partner with Vietnamese peers in multiplefields, according to the KOTRA Hanoi chief.
RoK companies have invested in 19 areas inVietnam, mostly processing and manufacturing (35 billion USD), real estate (8.2billion USD), and construction (2.7 billion USD).
Despite a decline in recent years, manufacturingstill makes up the biggest proportion of Korean investment in Vietnam. It isforecast to retain this position as many RoK factories are being moved toVietnam due to the degradation of China’s investment climate.
Manufacturing-related services are set todevelop in the near future, Park Chul Ho said.
Distribution, wholesaling, retailing,science-technology and infrastructure are also expected to attract strongerinvestment.
Park hopes that with such changes, the twocountries’ enterprises will develop new industries and make inroads into globalmarkets by cooperating in more diverse sectors.-VNA
VNA
