Deputy Director of the HCM City Institute for Development Studies Pham Binh An speaks at the event (Photo: VNA) HCM City (VNA) – A workshop discussingmeasures to promote trade links between Vietnam and Japan and the Republic of Korea (RoK)was held by the Centre of International Integration Support and the Investment & TradePromotion Centre of Ho Chi Minh City (ITPC) on April 19 inthe city.
Addressing the event, Deputy Director of the HCMCity Institute for DevelopmentStudies Pham Binh An said Japan and the RoK are the importanttrading partners of Vietnam, but the proportion of Vietnamese goods in thetotal import turnover of these markets is still modest, accounting for only2.7% and 3.3%, respectively.
Vietnam signed many free trade agreements with the twocountries, including the Vietnam-Japan EconomicPartnership Agreement (VJEPA),the Comprehensiveand Progressive Agreement for Trans-PacificPartnership (CPTPP), the Regional Comprehensive EconomicPartnership (RCEP), and the Vietnam – Korea Free Trade Agreement.
According to An, Vietnamhas strengths in exports with many key items such as textiles and garments,footwear, and agricultural products. For the first time, Vietnam's import-exportturnover exceed 700 billion USD in 2022, putting the country in the group ofleading economies in international trade.
However, he saidthat Vietnam's exports face many challenges this year due to the decrease inglobal consumer demand, particularly in important export markets of Vietnam. Therefore, exploring potential markets such as Japan and the RoK will be important to increasing Vietnam’s export growth.
From statistics onVietnam's export turnover to Japan and the RoK, as well as the market scale of thecountries, it can be seen that there still remains great potential andopportunities for Vietnam to promote the export of textile and garmentproducts, leather and footwear products, and agro-aquatic products, to thesemarkets, said Do Quoc Hung, deputy head of the Ministry of Industry and Trade'sDepartment of Asia-Africa Markets.
Choi Kyu Chul, Vice President of the Korean Chamber of Business in Vietnam (KOCHAM) stressed the need to have short-term,medium-term and long-term strategies to further promote trade ties between thetwo countries.
In the short term, it is necessary to prioritiseensuring the competitiveness of Vietnamese goods in the RoK market in terms ofprice, diversity, packaging, and marketing strategies.
In the medium and long term, Vietnam should pay attention to developing ahigh-quality workforce and investing in infrastructure development and supporting industries such as materials and components, hestressed.
Koreanbusinesses hope that the Vietnamese Government will have new policies tofurther support the development of industries and businesses in the nearfuture, especially supporting environmentally-friendly industries, he went on./.
