Hanoi (VNS/VNA) - A quarter ofa century of diplomatic relations between Vietnam and the Republic of Korea (RoK)has yielded substantial progress, especially in investment and trade, said BuiHuy Son, head of the Ministry of Industry and Trade’s Vietnam Trade PromotionDepartment (Vietrade).

Two-way trade increased 86 times from 0.5billion USD in 1992 to 43.4 billion USD last year, he said at a workshop in Hanoion October 17. The RoK is Vietnam’s third largest trading partner, while Vietnamis the RoK’s fourth largest trading partner.

In terms of investment, the RoK surpassedJapan to become the largest foreign investor in Vietnam in November 2014.

Cooperation has been boosted further sincethe free trade agreement between Vietnam and Korea (VKFTA) went into effect inDecember, 2015, the director added.

Manufacturing sectors are the leadingsector of export growth to the RoK, enjoying preferential FTA conditions. Thesector achieved 5.4 billion USD in exports in the first six months this year,an increase of 28.6 percent over the same period last year.

Exports of agricultural and aquaticproducts reached 497.2 million USD, increasing 29.3 percent over the sameperiod last year.

Under Vietnam’s tariff reduction commitments,the import of Korean machinery and electronic products, spare parts and rawmaterials of textiles, leather and footwear increased by 16-20 percent.

“I believe that besides the efforts ofVietnamese agencies in supporting Vietnamese businesses in applying the VKFTA,the support of the Republic of Korea Embassy in Vietnam and the KoreaTrade-Investment Promotion Agency (Kotra) was valuable and notable,” Son said.

“With the determination of the two’sgovernments and the proactivity of enterprises, the goal of reaching bilateraltrade turnover of 70 billion USD by 2020 is feasible,” he emphasised.

“Kotra, Vietrade, the general department ofcustoms and other Vietnamese agencies are doing their best to instructVietnamese businesses to apply VKFTA,” said Han Kyung Joon, deputy director ofKotra. But, he added, to maximize VKFTA opportunities, businesses themselvesneed to be proactive to thoroughly study the agreement and grab investment andbusiness opportunities. Vietnamese companies could also ask for support fromKotra’s VKFTA support centre in Hanoi.

Park Chul Ho, director general of Kotra,advised Vietnamese exporters to ensure good preparation of papers andprocedures, such as certificates of origin (C/Os).-VNA