Vietnam and the Republic of Korea (RoK) have officially signed a free trade agreement (FTA) after two-plus years of negotiation.
The agreement, with 17 chapters, 208 articles and 15 appendices, was concluded on May 5 in Hanoi and is expected to help Vietnam enjoy new opportunities thanks to strong commitments from the RoK to open its market.
The transparent and open legal environment created by the FTA is also expected to promote RoK investment in Vietnam, alongside high technology, advanced management capacity and opportunities to approach third-party markets.
The agreement covers commodity and service trade, investment, intellectual property, food hygiene and plant quarantine, rules of origin, customs facilitation, trade protection, technical barriers to trade, e-commerce, competition, economic cooperation and legal framework.
Under the agreement, the RoK will help Vietnam work out and implement policies and raise competitiveness in agro-forestry-fisheries, electronics, oil refining and support industries.
The Vietnam-RoK FTA is expected to have positive impacts, including generating jobs, especially for low-skilled laborers, and reducing poverty in rural areas.
The two countries will proceed with the ratification of the agreement in accordance with law of each country.-
