The Trade Promotion Department under the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT) will cooperate with the Republic of Korea (RoK) Institute of Design Promotion (RoK IDP) in the field of industrial design.

Under a memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed in Hanoi on Sept. 15, the two sides will share experience and the latest information regarding industrial design, cooperate in holding seminars and fairs as well as assist enterprises in human resource training.

Addressing the signing ceremony, Director of the RoK IDP Hyuntae Kim said the MoU is seen as the first step for RoK, a powerhouse in the industrial design, to work out aid programmes for Vietnam .

Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Thanh Bien said the cooperation will open up opportunities for Vietnamese enterprises to glean experience from the RoK in order to accelerate the sector in their own country.

According to the MoIT, investment-trade relations between Vietnam and the RoK have developed well. In 2009, two-way trade turnover between the two countries reached nine billion USD despite the impacts of the global economic crisis. The figure is expected to climb to 20 billion USD in 2015./.