VietNamNet Bridge – The second round of negotiations for a free
trade agreement (FTA) between Vietnam and South Korea will begin in this
quarter and is likely to produce positive results.
That is the forecast of Vo Thanh
Ha, deputy director of the Asia Pacific Market Department under the Ministry of
Trade and Industry.
Speaking at a seminar on the
Vietnam-South Korea FTA talks held in Can Tho last Friday, Ha said two-way
trade between the nations had sharply risen from US$500 million in 1992 to
US$21.1 billion last year.
South Korean is currently the
fourth largest trade partner of Vietnam, while Vietnam is the sixth biggest
export market of South Korea.
South Korea ranks third in terms
of FDI in Vietnam, after Japan and Taiwan, with over 3,100 projects worth
nearly US$25 billion. Vietnam is the largest ODA recipient of South Korea and
has some 60,000 people currently there for guest work.
Le Van Dao, adviser to the
Vietnam Textile and Apparel Association, said South Korea was the fourth
largest buyer of Vietnamese apparels last year, with a total import value of
US$1.3 billion, up 11.5% from 2011. There are now more than 200 South
Korea-invested textile and garment firms in Vietnam, employing around 180,000
Vietnamese workers.
South Korea offers the same
incentives as the EU for apparel products made of fabrics of any origin, said
Dao. “The FTA with South Korea will make it favorable for South Korea to
further invest in textile, dyeing and fashion as these are its strengths,” he
predicted.
Kim Sang Guk, director of CJ
Vietnam, said his firm last year exported US$30 million worth of agro-aqua
products and US$20 million of textile-garments to South Korea. He added that CJ
had acquired a major stake in the MegaStar cinema chain in HCMC and would build
a MegaStar cinema in Can Tho.
“The two countries are major
export markets of each other. We are the largest agro-aqua product supplier in
South Korea. We hope that three years after the FTA signing, we will grow 10
times against today,” Kim emphasized.
The Mekong Delta enterprises
attending the seminar last Friday asked the Trade Ministry to help them make
preparations for export to South Korea after the FTA is signed.
Nguyen Van Ngung, deputy director
of the Trade Department of Soc Trang Province, said the province last year
exported more than US$400 million worth of seafood and rice, but only a few
shrimp items were exported to South Korea. “The Trade Ministry should boost
negotiations over removal of South Korea’s technical barriers so that agro-aqua
products of the delta can effectively enter South Korea through FTA,” he
proposed.
Meanwhile, as the center of the
Mekong Delta, Can Tho last year only exported US$43 million of seafood and
garments to South Korea. On hearing that CJ will build a seafood processing
plant in Vietnam, Nguyen Minh Toai, director of the Can Tho City Trade
Department, said: “We will cooperate with CJ Group by joining hands with other
Mekong Delta provinces to develop a material zone to serve CJ’s processing and
export.
On January 22, managers and
representatives of 50 South Korean firms will visit Can Tho to pass the project
of ‘South Korean Technology Incubator’ in the city, he added.
The project will apply high
technology of South Korea to produce export products meeting global standards.
It will be worth more than VND400 billion, 70% of which will be financed by the
South Korean party, he said.
Source: SGT
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