At a supermarket in the Republic of Korea (Source: AFP/VNA) Seoul (VNA) – Two-way trade between the Republic of Korea (RoK) and Vietnam increased 7 percent in the first 11 months of this year compared with a year ago, the Korean Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy announced on December 19.
The bilateral trade volume reached 62.6 billion USD by the end of November, making Vietnam the RoK’s fourth-largest trade partner after China, the US and Japan.
The RoK's exports to Vietnam rose 1.9 percent on-year to 44.5 billion USD in the period, while its imports soared 22 percent to 18.1 billion USD on strong demand for displays and electronics parts produced in Korean factories in Vietnam.
Vietnam was the RoK's eight-largest trade partner in 2014, but has become the fourth-largest partner since the bilateral trade pact went into effect in 2015 December, the ministry noted.
Meanwhile, the RoK is now the biggest foreign investor in Vietnam, with its direct investment in the first nine months of this year coming at 2.81 billion USD, a 24.5-percent rise from a year earlier.
A growing number of Korean companies, including Samsung Electronics Co., have built factories in Vietnam to manufacture advanced technology items, including semiconductors, displays and cell phones.-VNA
VNA
