Vietnam, RoK trade grows sharply on FTA

Bilateral trade surged 43% year on year to US$58.8 billion during January-November.

The RoK’s Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy said on December 19 that two-way trade has increased in three consecutive years and Vietnam has become fourth largest trade partner of the RoK.

In the first 11 months of the year, the RoK’s exports to the Southeast Asian country soared 48.4% from the same time last year to US$43.7 billion on semiconductors, displays, wireless communication equipment and electronics parts. With such result, Korean products made up 22.3% in the Vietnamese market, just following China.

Meanwhile, imports from Vietnam rose 29.2% to US$14.8 billion in the reviewed time, mostly in wireless communication equipment, clothing, and other daily necessities.

The ministry said that RoK enterprises poured US$54.5 billion into Vietnam in the first half of the year, making it become the largest source of foreign direct investment of Vietnam.

More than 5,000 RoK companies are running business in Vietnam, including Samsung Electronics Co., LG Electronics Inc. and Doosan Engineering & Construction Co. They chose Vietnam to take advantage of cheap labour and a growing number of middle-class consumers in the fast-growing economy.