According to statistics from the General Department of Vietnam Customs, export turnover from Vietnam to South Korea reached US$8.9 billion, up 25% compared to 2014. Since late December last year, after the South Korea - Vietnam Free Trade Agreement officially took effect, many Vietnamese products exported to South Korea have enjoyed reduced taxes and tariffs.
Chu Thang Trung, Vietnamese Commercial Counsellor in Korea said: This is an opportunity for us to promote our exports to South Korea. However, as we are still in the early stage of international integration, we need to try harder to gather information and form better understandings of this market, so that we can plan better for the future.
As for the Japanese market, Vietnamese customs statistics revealed that total export turnover from Vietnam in 2015 dropped to US$9.3 billion, a 6% decrease compared to 2014. Despite not reaching the expected growth rate, this was still regarded as a positive result.
Nguyen Trung Dung, Vietnamese Commercial Counsellor in Japan said: Japan aims to increase their exports and decrease imports, therefore, it is harder for our products to enter their market. However, according to Japanese Customs, we have managed to secure 120% more of export market share while the number of imports in Japan fell 18%. I think this is already remarkable.
According to experts, Vietnamese products exported to these markets are rather unique; therefore, they face less competition and less chance of anti-dumping measures. These are positive factors for Vietnam to develop the country’s potential products for export to the region.
