Hanoi (VNA) - The upcoming official visit by Chairman of the National Assembly Vuong Dinh Hue to the Republic of Korea (RoK) starting December 12 is viewed as an opportunity to lift the countries’ strategic cooperative partnership to a new height, towards bringing two-way trade to 100 billion USD in a balanced, sustainable and effective manner. 

The Vietnam-RoK relations have been thriving across all fields since the countries set up diplomatic ties in 1992. Despite the negative impacts of the ongoing pandemic, bilateral trade in 2020 was equal to the level recorded before the pandemic, and is on the path to recovery this year.

The RoK is Vietnam's third largest trading partner, with bilateral trade reaching 66 billion VND, or 12.85 percent of Vietnam's total trade turnover with the world.

Currently, the RoK is the fourth biggest export market of Vietnam with an export revenue of nearly 19.1 billion USD.

The Northeast Asian nation is an important export market holding enormous potential for Vietnam’s fresh and processed fruits, with a market capacity of about 1.3 billion USD per year. To date, five fruits of Vietnam have been officially shipped to the RoK.

There are ample room for Vietnam’s fruits to enter the RoK, according to RoK firms and consumers. Vietnamese businesses are advised to pay more attention to improving product quality, packaging, processing method, production scale and stability of supply. 

Kyung Don Kim, head of the Investment Promotion Team at the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA) in Hanoi, said that Vietnam-RoK trade turnover is rising despite the complex developments of COVID-19. Businesses from the RoK are keen to further invest in the Southeast Asian nation in the coming time.

The RoK remains the largest foreign investor of Vietnam with a total of 9,165 projects mainly in manufacturing. About 79 percent of RoK firms are investing in industrial production, namely Samsung, LG and Hyundai Motors, among others.

Vietnam is a key partner in the RoK’s enhanced New Southern Policy.

The Agency of Foreign Trade under the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT) will join hands with relevant agencies of the two countries to call on the RoK to open its door to other fruits of Vietnam as well as increase trade promotions in the coming time. 

Since the fourth wave of COVID-19 outbreaks, the RoK business community in Vietnam has been working with the Vietnamese side to overcome difficulties brought by the pandemic, said Vu Ba Phu, director of the ministry's Vietnam Trade Promotion Agency.

Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Hong Dien affirmed that there are many room for growth in economic-trade cooperation between Vietnam and the RoK thanks to various factors, especially the sides’ active engagement in free trade agreements and strong connection in the global value chain. 

The ministry will continue to foster close collaboration and maximise the efficiency of bilateral cooperation mechanisms in carrying out tasks and plans of action, so as to bring two-way trade to 100 billion USD by 2023./.