Director of the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA)in Hanoi Park Chul Ho made the remark in an interview granted to Cong Thuong (Industry& Trade) newspaper on the occasion of the RoK’s participation in theVietnam International Trade Fair (Vietnam Expo 2017) in April as an honourarycountry.
He said Vietnam Expo is one of the biggestannual trade fairs in Vietnam with the attendance of nearly 500 domestic andforeign businesses this year.
The event will create brilliant opportunitiesfor Korean firms to seek partners and explore the Vietnamese market, he said.
This is the 19th consecutive year that KOTRA hasparticipated in the fair, which is expected to help Vietnam and the RoK developtrade and investment partnership, and set up their own production supplychains, he added.
He revealed that Korean companies plan to makeinvestment in Vietnam, not only for selling products in the market but alsoexporting back to the RoK.
The signing of the Vietnam-RoK free trade agreement(VKFTA) has reduced a number of barriers relating to tariff and investmentdispute settlement, while increasing protection of intellectual propertyrights, and opening the door to the service industry, he said.
That’s why Korean companies see Vietnam as anattractive investment environment, he explained.
In 2016, the RoK firms ran about 850 investmentprojects in Vietnam, he cited, adding that the support industry is receivingthe most attention.
The number of Korean companies, which want tomake inroads into automobile, medical equipment, aircraft, electricity,electronics, and garment-textile markets, has been increasing in recent time,he said.
Last year, 82 percent of investment from the RoKwas poured into the manufacturing field. Korean businesses also showed theirinterest in the fields of tourism, retail, e-commerce, and online education, headded.-VNA