VN, RoK review FTA implementation

Minister of Industry and Trade Tran Tuan Anh (R) and RoK Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy Paik Ungyu in Ho Chi Minh City on February 2, 2018. Photo: VGP

The two ministers co-chaired the 2^nd meeting of the Joint Committee on the implementation of the VKFTA and the 8^th meeting of the Joint Committee on nuclear power, energy, industry and trade cooperation in Ho Chi Minh City on February 2.

At the meeting on nuclear power, energy, industry and trade cooperation, the two sides discussed and agreed on some bilateral cooperation contents in such areas as construction of BOT power plants, oil and gas, renewable energy, energy safety management, auxiliary industry development, automobile industry, garments, logistics among others in a bid to raise the two-way trade to US$100 billion by 2020.

Regarding the implementation of the VFFTA, the two ministers discussed and agreed on ways to tackle issues arising during the realization of the agreement.

They reviewed the two countries’ commitments to ensure the VKFTA would bring benefits for their business communities and maintain high and sustainable growth of trade and investment ties.

The two minsters signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on the establishment of a joint website on the VKFTA and a MoU on setting up a group to handle difficulties faced by the two nations’ businesses.

According to Viet Nam’s 2017 statistic data, the two-way trade reached US$61.5 billion, up 41.3%. Of the figure, Viet Nam’s exports and imports from the RoK accounted for US$14.8 billion and US$46.7 billion, up 30% and 45.3%, respectively.

The RoK was the second largest investor in Viet Nam with the registered capital of US$8.49 billion in 2017.

By Thuy Dung