S. Korean SMEs talk trade

The 14 enterprises, from Daegu Metropolitan City and Gyeongbuk Province, introduced products of cosmetics, food, dial keypads, and machine manufacturing, apart from implants, entertainment, electric illuminations and 3D printers. — Photo kinhtevadubao

HA NOI (Biz Hub) — Fourteen small and medium enterprises (SMEs) from South Korea were in Ha Noi to seek co-operation with Vietnamese companies through a trade promotion meeting in the capital city yesterday.

The meeting, titled 2015 SMBA Marketing Promotion Day, was co-organised by the Agency for Enterprises Development (AED) under the Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI) and Daegu-Gyeongbuk Regional Office of Small and Medium Business Administration (SMBA).

The meeting is an opportunity for enterprises from the two countries to exchange and seek co-operation, Nguyen Hoa Cuong, deputy head of AED, said.

Cuong also expressed the hope that enterprises from both sides would have effective trade relations as Viet Nam and South Korea have many similarities.

Kim Heung Bin, director Daegu-Gyeongbuk Regional Office of SMBA, said that small and medium enterprises were the root of the country's economy as they accounted for 99 per cent of all South Korean enterprises and 88 per cent of labour force.

The provincial SMEs have focussed on expanding their markets to foreign countries including Viet Nam, an emerging market which has been attracting quite a bit of attention recently, Kim said.

Bilateral trade between Viet Nam and South Korea reached $20 billion in 2012 and is expected to hit $30 billion this year.

Brad Jeon, general manager of GoodBrad E-trading Service Provider, told Viet Nam News that Viet Nam was a potential market and the country would play an important position in the ASEAN community. Therefore, he hoped his company would be able to seek Vietnamese partners, so that it could expand its market by promoting its products here. — VNS