Hanoi (VNA) – Warm bilateral tiescoupled with significant spending by the Republic of Korea on farm produceimports are creating great opportunities for Vietnamese exporters.

According to Do Kim Lang, Vice Director ofthe Trade Promotion Agency under the Ministry of Industry and Trade, thanks tothe Vietnam-RoK free trade agreement taking effect in December 2015, the RoKhas become the third biggest trade partner of Vietnam after China and the US.

In the first two months of 2018, Vietnamearned 2.79 million USD from the RoK, up 44 percent compared to the same timelast year.

The Vietnam Embassy in the RoK said Vietnamholds strength in seafood and fruit-vegetable exports to the Asian country, anadvantage given the country spends 33 billion USD importing farm produce andseafood per year.

The Trade Promotion Agency has organised tripsfor Vietnamese business delegations in the food industry to visit the RoK tocarry out transactions and take part in local exhibitions and trade fairs.

Two major retail firms of the RoK –K-holdings and Coupang – have reportedly sent representatives to Vietnamlooking for product supply sources. The firms were interested in importingspices, instant noodles, packed products made of rice, frozen seafood, driedfruits, coffee, chocolate and cashew, among other processed food products.

Kim Dae Youn, director of the fooddistribution section at Coupang, said apart from Vietnamese fresh tropicalfruit, Korean consumers favour the country’s processed farm produce of thecountry.

Coupang, a leading online shopping companyof the RoK, will give a space in its website to introduce Vietnamese food. Itaims to sell about 1,800 Vietnamese products online in 2019.

Amid these opportunities, Vietnamese firms havefocused on the strict quality standards demanded by the market, particularlywith processed food.

Dinh Thi Anh tuyet, Chairwoman of the Boardat the VietED Group, said the Korean market is demanding with high standards,challenging Vietnamese companies.

Small- and medium-sized companies see thisas a big challenge, as they lack capital, technologies and human resources.

Le Huy Bay, head of a company processingfarm produce, said his start-up is a couple of years old and still faces lotsof difficulties.

He said the company is confident of itsdried fruit quality but packet design remains unattractive, adding that it has notbeen able to learn about consumer demand and other market information in theRoK.

He suggested communications agencies offerinformation on the market and Korean businesses for local companies.-VNA