Korea-vietnam 25-year Trade in Full Bloom

Since Vietnam and South Korea set up diplomatic ties 25 years ago, the two countries have seen strong and steady progress in their cooperation in such areas as diplomacy, economy, technology and culture.

The two sides upgraded their relationship to a comprehensive partnership in the 21st century in 2001 and a strategic cooperative partnership in 2009. Korea regards Vietnam as one of the most important partners in Southeast Asia, especially in economic cooperation. Korea is now leading foreign direct investment in Vietnam and is one of its top three trade partners.

The Vietnamese government is attempting to simplify procedures to create favorable conditions for foreign investors. With abundant resources, relatively low production costs, and a government that always pays heed to investors' aspirations, Vietnam has become an attractive destination for foreign investment.

After more than two decades, the two countries' bilateral trade has increased to a record high. From only $500 million in 1992, two-way trade reached $43.45 billion in 2016, and $39.2 billion in the first eight months of 2017, and is forecast to hit over $60 billion in 2017.

In the last 10 years, two-way trade has continuously grown at an average rate of 23.4 percent per year in the context of global trade being negatively impacted by the global economic crisis. Korea is Vietnam's third largest trade partner after China and the United States, accounting for 14 percent of its total international trade. Vietnam is Korea's fourth largest trade partner.

Vietnamese President Tran Dai Quang and Korean President Moon Jae-in hold a summit in Danang

Korea is a potential market for Vietnamese exports. With its strength in fuel, light industry and agricultural products, Vietnam exports telephones and spare parts; computers, electronic and various other products. Many of Vietnam's commodities have set their footholds in developed markets such as the United States, Japan and the EU with high requirements of technical and environmental standards, product safety, and designs.

They are gradually asserting their position in the Korean market.

Vietnamese enterprises are studying the requirements of the Korean market, applying advanced technology in management and production, training laborers, improving product quality and making designs suitable for each market segment in the RoK.

In turn, Korea ships to Vietnam items such as computers, electronic products and components, machinery and...