Seoul (VNA) – The Vietnamese Embassy inthe Republic of Korea, TPS Farmers and Vinaka companies signed an agreement in thesouthern city of Kwangyang on June 25 to boost the import and distribution of Vietnamesefarm produce in the country.
The Vietnamese community inthe RoK have rising demand for agro-aquatic products and processed food from Vietnam,especially since the COVID-19 pandemic broke out. At the same time, Vietnam’s cuisine is becoming popular in the RoK with more than 4,000 Vietnameserestaurants nationwide, according to a survey of Chosun cuisine magazine in2019.
With the support of theMinistry of Industry and Trade’s Department of Asian – African Markets, theembassy’s Trade Office actively worked with Vietnamese exporters and importers to study demand and suggest building a regular information sharing mechanismto promptly tackle difficulties.
As a result, they agreed topopularise Vietnamese farm produce trademarks in the RoK, and pledged to importfarm produce and processed food worth 5.2 million USD between now and 2022,including fresh and frozen fruits, vegetables, beverages, and spices which will bedistributed via Asian Mart chain and Korean distribution outlets.
The Vietnamese importers arealso investing in logistics, cold storage and e-commerce to gradually navigatemajor supermarket chains such as Lotte, Emart, Home Plus and online retailerslike Coupang and Gmarket.
The Trade Office and the Departmentof Asian – African Markets also vowed support to trade promotion activities inthe RoK to increase export value.
At a conference held on June18, TPS Farmers and Vinaka were also introduced to Hai Duong province’sprestigious lychee exporters. They are planning to bring Vietnamese frozenlychees to the RoK./.