The leader of Coman Corp, one of the major firms of the Republic of Korea specialising in imports of species and processed food, expressed wish to support Vietnamese businesses to boost exports of foodstuff and farm produce to the country.

At the workshop “Exports of Foodstuff to the Republic of Korea ” held in Hanoi on May 5, Coman Corp President Stanley Park highly valued Vietnam’s foodstuff and farm produce, noting that the RoK is a major market importing those goods in the Asia-Pacific region.

However, he said, Vietnamese products have not gained a foothold in the RoK market.

Stanley Park suggested that Vietnamese enterprises focus on exporting products suitable to Korean favourites and enhance close linkage to RoK importers.

Le Hoang Oanh, Deputy Head of the Trade Promotion Department under the Industry and Trade Ministry affirmed that the RoK is a large market for Vietnam . In 2009, despite the impacts of the global economic downturn, two-way trade between the two countries hit nearly 10 billion USD, of which Vietnam’s exports accounted for 20 percent or 2 billion USD, an increase of 16 percent over 2008.

In the first quarter of the year, Vietnam earned nearly 551 million USD from exports to the RoK, a year-on-year increase of 43 percent.

Vegetables, confectionery, coffee and cereal products are among Vietnam’s major export items.

Vietnam’s foodstuff currently makes up only 2.3 percent of those products in the RoK due to the country’s strict regulations on products’ import process, trademarks and origins./.