Vietnam earned over 1.17 billion USD from export to the Republic of Korea (RoK) in the first quarter of this year, a 114 percent soar over the same period last year.

The figure made up 6.3 percent of the country’s total export turnover in the review period.

The significant soar was attributed to the market’s demand and increasing prices.

In addition, many Vietnamese exports with certificates of origin enjoyed tax preferences under the bilateral free trade agreement that between Vietnam signed with the RoK.

The RoK imported mainly rubber, minerals, garments, seafood, electric wire and cable, giving high estimations to garments.

Vietnam is currently the second biggest supplier of garment products to the RoK after China . In the first three months, its garment export value to the RoK surged over 176 percent.

The country’s seafood export to this market was also up nearly 62 percent from the same period last year, ranking third after China and Russia .

With those positive signs, experts forecast that Vietnam’s exports to the Rok this year will rise about 40 percent over the 2010 figure, which was valued at 3.1 billion USD./.