Mon. Mar 25th, 2024

Vietnamese enterprises should make greater efforts to accelerate trade
promotion, improve production capacities and sharpen their competitive
skills to further tap into the lucrative Republic of Korea (RoK) market.

According
to the Vietnamese Trade Office in RoK, the Korea Rural Economic
Institute recently quoted a survey conducted by Hankook Research Co,
which said that besides going to small and medium-sized supermarkets,
Korean consumers also bought food at hypermarkets as well as traditional
markets.

They also preferred environment-friendly foods and were
paying increasing attention to the country of origin of foods, with top
priority being given to Korean-made goods.

Thus, in order to
successfully penetrate into Korean markets, Vietnamese exporters should
ensure the quality of their products with a focus on food safety and
hygiene as well as make their goods different from those already
available in the market, the office said.

According to the
office, Korea is currently one of the world’s leading importers. Last
year, the country spent 515.57 billion USD to import mainly crude oil,
natural gas and coal along with machines, electronics and components.
Steel and iron, as well as chemicals, were also imported.

Meanwhile,
Vietnamese exports to Korea have also experienced significant growth in
the past few years – from 12.9 billion USD in 2009 to 20 billion USD in
2012 and 27.3 billion USD in 2013, according to the General Department
of Customs.

In the first half of this year, Vietnam exported over
3 billion USD worth of goods to the country. During the period, apparel
took the lead in terms of turnover with 746 million USD, followed by
seafood with 282 million USD and wood and wooden products (230 million
USD). Computers and peripherals (156 million USD), mobile phones and
components (164 million USD) and footwear (149 million USD) made up the
rest of the exports.

The department noted that exports of Vietnamese agricultural goods and foodstuff to different markets were also increasing.

Trade
experts attributed the encouraging results to efforts by domestic
enterprises in exploiting the market and the positive influence of the
ASEAN-Korea Free Trade Agreement, through which Korea offered tax
incentives to goods imported from countries that are part of the pact.-VNA

By vivian