(VOVWORLD) -Vietnam has surpassed Japan for two consecutive years to be the Republic of Korea's third largest trading partner, after China and the US. The Korea International Trade Association on February 5 announced that bilateral trade turnover between the Korea and Vietnam reached nearly 80 billion USD last year.
Since 1992, when the two countries established diplomatic relations, the bilateral trade turnover has jumped 160 folds from 500 million USD to nearly 80 billion USD.
According to Bae Yong Geun, former Vice President of the Korean Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Vietnam, Korean businesses have considered Vietnam a large-scale base for manufacturing industry which uses a lot of labor force. But he predicted that Korean businesses will boost investment and cooperation in high added value fields, such as high technology, energy, finance-banking, and mergers and acquisitions
Do Nhat Hoang, Director of the Foreign Investment Department at Vietnam’s Ministry of Planning and Investment, shared the opinion, saying, "Recent investment made by Korean businesses was in digital technology, electronics, clean energy, green economy, digital transformation, and innovation. Vietnam is also determined to make breakthroughs in developing the green economy, digital economy, and innovation."
"Therefore, Korea's investment potential and trends are fitted to Vietnam's strategy of attracting high-quality investment. The Ministry of Planning and Investment has been and will always support investors for stronger Korean capital inflows," Hoang said.