Tran Thu
South Korean President Park Geun-hye (R) and Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung attend a news conference after a bilateral meeting, ahead of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)-Republic of Korea Commemorative Summit, in Busan December 10, 2014 - PHOTO: REUTERS
According to the Asia-Pacific Market Department under the Ministry of Industry and Trade, Vietnamese Minister of Industry and Trade Vu Huy Hoang and South Korea’s Minister of Trade, Industry, and Energy Yoon Sang-jick signed a minutes on the conclusion of negotiations over the bilateral FTA in Busan on Wednesday with Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung and South Korean President Park Geun-hye witnessing.
The FTA will not only help Vietnam and Korea strengthen ties but also open more business and trade cooperation opportunities for enterprises of the two countries, as Korea will liberalize 95.43% of its tariff lines for Vietnam’s imports while Vietnam’s proportion for that country will be 89.75%.
The two countries started their FTA talks in August 2012. After eight official rounds of negotiations and eight mid-term and chief negotiator meetings, the two sides have basically approved of the contents of the agreement on a comprehensive scope with high commitments and ensuring balanced mutual interests.
The FTA chiefly focuses on trade in goods (commitments to tax cuts) and services (including an appendix on telecom and finance), investment, intellectual property, measures on food hygiene and safety, rules of origin, customs facilitation, trade defense, technical barriers in trade, e-commerce, institutions and law and economic cooperation.
Korea will offer tariff cuts and new export opportunities for Vietnam’s key agro-fishery products including shrimp and fish and tropical fruits, as well as industrial products such as apparel and mechanical products.
Besides, the country agreed on more opportunities for Vietnam’s services and investments, while enhancing economic cooperation and providing technical assistance in various fields for Vietnam.
The country will for the first time allow Vietnamese garlic, ginger, honey, and shrimp to enter its market, giving an advantage to Vietnam over other competitors in the region.
Meanwhile, Vietnam will offer preferential treatment for South Korea’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 electrical cables.
The FTA is expected to help boost Korea’s material exports for garment-textile, footwear, and electronics. Other commitments on services, investment, transparent and open investment climate and fair competition in accordance with international rules are expected to spur investments from Korea, especially in high technology and processing industry.
The two sides are completing the remaining technical issues and necessary procedures so as to officially ink the FTA early 2015.
Vietnam is set to remove tariffs on 200 additional products from Korea, including auto parts and cosmetics while Seoul will open its market for nearly 500 additional Vietnamese goods, excluding rice.
Figures of the General Department of Customs showed two-way trade between Vietnam and South Korea in January-November stood at around US$26.2 billion, up 4.3% compared to the same period last year. Of which, Vietnam exported US$6.53 billion worth of apparel, seafood and wooden products, among others to that market, rising 7% year-on-year.
Đăng ký: VietNam News
