(VOVworld) – Vietnam and the Republic of Korea (RoK) signed a minutes on the conclusion of negotiations of their bilateral free trade agreement (FTA) in Busan on Wednesday.

Vietnam's Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung and Korean President Park Geun-hye witnessed the signing ceremony (Photo: VNA)

The event was witnessed by Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung and Korean President Park Geun-hye. They expected the free trade agreement to increase the two-way trade turnover to 70 billion USD by 2020 and lift the strategic cooperative partnership to a new height.

Under the agreement, the RoK will offer tariffs cut and new export opportunities for Vietnam’s key agro-fishery products, including shrimp, fish and tropical fruits, as well as industrial products such as garments and textile. Vietnam’s services and investment will also benefit from market access opportunities generated by the deal.

Meanwhile, Vietnam will offer preferential treatment for RoK’s industrial products such as materials and accessories for textile-garment, plastic materials, electronic parts, trucks and cars of 2,500cc and over, automobile parts, electrical home appliances, iron and steel products and electric cable.

The RoK will liberalize tariff for 96.48 percent of its tax lines, while the figure for Vietnam is 93 percent.

Addressing a press conference following the signing ceremony, the two leaders agreed that the deal will result in practical benefits and contribute to realizing bilateral strategic partnership.