Seoul (VNA) – Vietnamese Minister of Industryand Trade Nguyen Hong Dien and the Republic of Korea (RoK)’s Minister of Trade,Industry and Energy Moon Sung-wook co-chaired the 11th meeting ofthe Vietnam-RoK Joint Committee on trade, industry and energy cooperation andthe 5th meeting of the bilateral Joint Committee on implementationof the free trade agreement between the two countries on December 22.

The two ministers discussed measures to support enterprises inadapting to COVID-19 and maintaining operations, while seeking new motivationsfor the promotion of partnership between the two countries in trade, industry andenergy in the time to come.

In the area of trade, the officials agreed to work together to implement measuresto expand the scale of bilateral trade, including broadening the market forfarm produce and settling trade barriers between the two countries.

They concurred to promptly finalise procedures for thesigning of an agreement on the implementation of the cumulation of origin oftextile materials between the two nations under the Vietnam-UK Free Trade Agreement andcontinue to coordinate closely in implementing the Regional ComprehensiveEconomic Partnership.

In the area of industry, the two ministers agreed to strengthen cooperation toconnect the supply chains between the two countries and support enterprises tooptimise advantages from FTAs that both countries have signed throughtechnology transfer and capacity improvement in the field of supportingindustries, while supporting Vietnam in building a Law on Industry development.

In terms of energy, both sides will encourage enterprises tofoster partnership in technology transfer in energy, especially new energies.Following Vietnam’s requests, the RoK’s Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energyagreed to continue sponsoring the second phase of a project to promote the in energyefficient investment market in the industrial sector and support the national greendevelopment action program in the 2021-2025 period.


At the fifth meeting of the Vietnam-RoK Joint Committee on implementation ofthe bilateral free trade agreement, the two ministers shared delight at theefficiency of the deal, noting that after seven years of implementing theagreement, two-way trade is estimated to rise 2.1 times from 36.5 billion USDin 2015 to 77 billion USD in 2021.

Total RoK investment in Vietnam also increased to 74.1 billion USD as ofNovember 2021 from 36.5 billion USD in 2015.

The two ministers agreed to continue to work closely together to fosterpartnership in customs clearance and removing difficulties facing enterprisesof both sides, creating a favourable legal corridor to optimise the advantagesbrought about by the FTA.

Following the two meetings, the two ministers signed fourdocuments, including a memorandum of understanding between the Ministry ofIndustry and Trade and Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy on middle andlong-term cooperation in commercial urea for industrial use.

During Vietnamese National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue’svisit to the RoK, leaders of both sides agreed to work together towards thetarget of 150 billion USD in two-way trade in 2030 with trade balance./.