(VOV) – Vietnam signed a free trade agreement (FTA) with the Republic of Korea (RoK) earlier this month which is expected to boost its exports to the RoK market and more than double bilateral trade over the next five years.

At a conference on May 22 sponsored by the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT) in HCM City representatives of the ministry said the FTA could see Vietnam and the RoK’s annual trade reach US$70 billion by 2020.

The pact is expected to see a sharp increase in Vietnam’s exports of agricultural produce and seafood to the RoK buttressed by the removal of import duties as well as more materials and components imported for Vietnam’s garment, footwear and electronics factories.

More specifically, the RoK has agreed to eliminate import duties on roughly 97.2% of imports items while Vietnam will cut duties on 92.7% of imports from the RoK, said Tran Ngoc Liem, vice director of the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) office in HCM City.

The deal should be an especially positive boon for Korean firms operating in Vietnam such as Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics.

The RoK is currently the largest foreign investor in Vietnam with newly-registered and supplementary capital totalling US$7.32 billion invested in 505 projects in 2014.

Source: VietMaz.com

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