Korean food introduced at a fair in Vietnam. (Photo: VNA) TheRoK’s largest trade surplus in 2022 was with Vietnam, at 34.25 billion USD. Itwas the first year in which Vietnam rankedNo. 1 in this regard, according to theRoK’s Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy cited by the Joongang Ilbonewspaper.
The main exports to Vietnam include semiconductors, flat screen monitors, andpetroleum products. Besides, food, fashion items, and beauty products alsogreatly contributed to the RoK’s shipments to the Southeast Asian country,according to the Korea International Trade Association (KITA) and relevantindustries.
Fastfood chain Lotteria is running 270 stores in Vietnam, ranking first amongsimilar chains here. Its 2022 revenue topped 100 billion KRW (80.5 million USD),surpassing the figure in 2019 before the COVID-19 pandemic broke out.
With38 stores, Tous les Jours of CJ Foodville is also holding the top positionamong the bakery chains in Vietnam.
In2021, soju products of Hite Jinro also dominated the local distilled alcoholicbeverage market. The third Jinro BBQ restaurant opened in Hanoi’s Cau Giaydistrict in February 2022.
Lat year, Orion Vina, a subsidiary of Orion in Vietnam, earned over 400 billionKRW in annual revenue for the first time since its establishment. Compared toVietnam’s confectionary market worth 130 billion KRW, that figure indicatesOrion is currently dominating the market.
Korean cosmetic products are also popular in Vietnam. Local media reported thatsuch products from the RoK hold the biggest market share, 30%, compared to similaritems from the EU (23%) and Japan (17%), which also have many high-end brands.
Data from KITA show that thanks to Hallyu (Korean Wave), the RoK’s cosmeticsexports to Vietnam reached 230 million USD in 2020.
Likewise,Korean fashion is also a magnet in the Vietnamese market.
Hazzys,a brand of fashion company LF, is operating seven stores in Vietnam andrecorded its 2022 revenue doubling that in 2021. Fashion and retail firm E-Landalso witnessed last year’s sales here rising over 10%.
InMay and June 2022, the KITA branch in Ho Chi Minh City interviewed 956Vietnamese adults about Korean products they planned to buy. The items grabbingtheir attention included cosmetics (37.9%), food (27.7%), and electronics (15.1%). Asked about potential Koream products in the future, they selectedcosmetics (50.7%), electronics (38.9%), food (32.2%), and healthy food (23.3%).
KITAsaid with a population of 100 million and good economic growth, Vietnam is notonly a production hub replacing China but also one of the fastest recoveringconsumption markets after the COVID-19 pandemic./.
VNA
