RoK, Vietnam eye closer economic ties despite pandemic

April 14, 2020 | 08:00

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The Republic of Korea (RoK) and Vietnam held a video conference on April 13 to share ideas on ways to expand their economic ties despite the strain caused by the pandemic on global business activities, according to the Yonhap News Agency.

rok vietnam eye closer economic ties despite pandemic

Illustrative image (Photo: Yonhap)

RoK Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy Sung Yun-mo and his Vietnamese counterpart Tran Tuan Anh discussed ways to expand bilateral ties in the face of the growing economic fallout from the new coronavirus spread.

During the meeting, the RoK side thanked Vietnam for enabling some of its residents to enter the country for major business activities, emphasising that travel by business officials is crucial to maintain the global supply chain.

The two countries also agreed to push for the so-called Electronic Origin Data Exchange System (EODES), which allows them to process certificates of origin through electronic platforms.

The measure is expected to speed up customs procedures for exporters and prevent forgery of documents, according to the RoK Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.

Vietnam is the third-largest export destination for the RoK, whose outbound shipments to the Southeast Asian country reached 48.1 billion USD in 2019, down 0.9 percent from a year earlier.

In 2019, the RoK’s overall exports sank more than 10 percent.

The country’s outbound shipments edged down 0.2 percent on-year last month and plunged up to 18.6 percent annually to 12.2 billion USD in the April 1-10 period, according to the data from the Korea Customs Service.

The figure is expected to continue dropping in the coming time due to the impacts of the pandemic, said experts.

VNA

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