Exports from Vietnam to Japan and South Korea remain modest despite the two countries being important trade partners of Vietnam, a workshop in Ho Chi Minh City on April 19 heard.
The workshop was held to discuss measures to boost trade links between Vietnam and the two countries.
The proportion of Vietnamese goods in their total import turnover stands at 2.7 per cent and 3.3 per cent, respectively.
Vietnam mainly exports textiles and garments, leather and footwear products, and agro-fishery products to the two markets.
Japan’s demand for textiles and garments is estimated at $24 billion annually, but Vietnam’s exports reached just $2.9 billion, or 12 per cent.
Japan imports $4.5 billion worth of footwear products each year, including just $823 million from Vietnam, or 18.2 per cent.
Participants said there remains major potential and opportunities for Vietnam to boost exports to Japan and South Korea given it has signed multiple agreements with the two countries, including the Vietnam-Japan Economic Partnership Agreement (VJEPA), the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), and the Vietnam - Korea Free Trade Agreement.
Choi Kyu Chul, Vice President of the Korean Chamber of Business in Vietnam (KORCHAM) stressed the need to adopt short-term, medium-term, and long-term strategies to further promote trade ties between the two countries. In the short term, it is necessary to prioritize ensuring the competitiveness of Vietnamese goods in South Korea in terms of price, diversity, packaging, and marketing strategies.
In the medium and long terms, Vietnam should pay attention to developing a high-quality workforce and investing in infrastructure development and supporting industries such as materials and components, he said.
Deputy Director of the Investment & Trade Promotion Center of Ho Chi Minh City, Nguyen Tuan, said businesses need to tap more advantages from the tariff reduction roadmap in free trade agreements between Vietnam and Japan and South Korea.
Two-way trade turnover between Vietnam and Japan was over $47 billion last year and between Vietnam and South Korea more than $86 billion.
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