Nonsan City will provide administrative and financial support in terms of export and import activities for enterprises as well as report the local market situation via the office.
The opening of the office in Viet Nam, a crucial partner of the RoK in Southeast Asia, is expected to boost the exports of farm products into Viet Nam and other nations in Southeast Asia.
The office is headed by Kim Jung-min, General Director of JM Group, a distributor of Korean products such as Cheong Kwan Jang ginseng and Korea Eundan vitamin supplement capsules.
Two-way trade between Viet Nam and the RoK in 2022 reached nearly US$87 billion, an increase of nearly US$9 billion from the previous year's US$78.1 billion, according to the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT).
Of the figure, exports to the RoK hit US$24.2 billion, an increase of 10.2 percent while imports attained US$ 62.5 billion, an increase of 11 percent over the same period. This is the first time Viet Nam has become the RoK's largest trade surplus partner by year.
According to the MoIT, among ASEAN countries, Viet Nam is emerging as a production base for global companies. The fact that Viet Nam has become the RoK's largest trade surplus partner is the result of Korean businesses constantly penetrating the Vietnamese market and the two countries have become close economic partners.
The RoK is also the largest foreign investor in Viet Nam in terms of both registered capital and investment projects with nearly 9,500 projects worth more than US$80 billion. In the first 11 months of 2022, the RoK invested over US$4 billion in 370 projects in the Southeast Asian nation.