Korea and Vietnam have agreed to start formal talks toward a free trade
agreement. Trade Minister Bark Tae-ho and his Vietnamese counterpart Vu Huy
Hoang made the announcement at a meeting in Hanoi on Monday.
The first talks next month will
negotiate the scope of products to be affected by the FTA as well as guidelines
for individual trade sectors.
Agricultural products are
expected to be the main issue in negotiations, since Vietnam is the world's No.
2 rice exporter. Korea aims to boost shipments of IT products and automobiles
to the Southeast Asian country.
Seoul and Hanoi have already
forged a preliminary FTA, because Korea signed a trade pact with ASEAN, of
which Vietnam is a member, which went into effect in 2007. But Korea's key
exports -- cars, components and IT products -- are not included in the pact with
ASEAN, so Seoul is seeking separate FTAs with each ASEAN member country.
Last year, Korea's trade with
Vietnam amounted to US$18.6 billion, with a trade surplus of $8.4 billion.
Business & Investment Opportunities
YourVietnamExpert is a division of Saigon Business Corporation Pte Ltd, Incorporated in Singapore since 1994. As Your Business Companion, we propose a range of services in Strategy, Investment and Management, focusing Healthcare and Life Science with expertise in ASEAN. We also propose Higher Education, as a bridge between educational structures and industries, by supporting international programmes. Many thanks for visiting www.yourvietnamexpert.com and/or contacting us at contact@yourvietnamexpert.com
No comments:
Post a Comment