Vietnam and RoK vow to raise bilateral trade to US$100 billion this year

The agreement was reached during the second Vietnam – Korea dialogue on economic cooperation co-chaired by Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister Le Minh Khai and his RoK counterpart Choo Kyungho in Hanoi on March 10.

Both sides agreed to ramp up bilateral cooperation in the fields of trade, energy, infrastructure construction, development cooperation, information technology - communication, start-up and investment, health care and labour.

Among issues discussed, they agreed to further boost the export of products to each other’s markets based on the Vietnam - Korea Free Trade Agreement (VKFTA). They consented to jointly promote Korean investment in Vietnam’s priority areas such as liquefied natural gas- power generation, complex industrial parks, and smart urban area.

The two sides will effectively implement projects using official development assistance of the RoK Government for the Vietnamese Government through many mechanisms such as Knowledge Sharing Program (KSP), Economic Development Cooperation Fund (EDCF) ) and Economic Development Cooperation Fund (EDPF).

They also discussed ways to ramp up cooperation in the fields of goods distribution, logistics, banking and health care, along with solutions to effectively manage and use human resources of both sides to support socio-economic development of the two countries.

Deputy PM Le Minh Khai said the initiatives put forward at the dialogue are very practical and suitable to the actual situation of each country that are expected to not only remove difficulties and obstacles but also open up new economic cooperation opportunities between the two countries.

He noted bilateral trade is growing considerably, with two-way trade turnover last year reaching US$86.4 billion.

Currently, Vietnam slipped into a trade deficit in trade exchanges with the RoK standing at about US$37.8 billion in 2022, an increase of about 10% compared to 2021.

The Vietnamese government wishes to continue expanding bilateral trade relations with the RoK, aiming to raise the trade value to US$100 billion in 2023 and US$150 billion by 2030 in a more balanced direction, said Khai.

Deputy PM Choo Kyungho for his part emphasized that the recent upgrade to a comprehensive strategic partnership has created a solid foundation for promoting cooperation between the two countries, including in economy.

The RoK Government will work closely with the Vietnamese Government to support Korean businesses to expand their investment in Vietnam, especially in the fields of environmentally friendly infrastructure construction, clean energy development, finance, agriculture, health care, digital transformation and culture, said Choo.

According to the RoK leader, Vietnam has become a global manufacturing hub with a favourable investment environment and an abundant young workforce. As a result, large Korean enterprises investing in Vietnam have built value chains in the region.

At the end of the meeting, the two Deputy PMs signed the Minutes of the second Vietnam – Korea Deputy Prime Minister’s Dialogue on Economic Cooperation.