S. Korea's imports of Vietnamese farm products jump 34 pct after 2015 free trade deal

SEOUL, Jan. 21 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's imports of Vietnamese agricultural and livestock products jumped 34 percent two years after the two nations' bilateral free trade deal came into force, data showed Sunday.

Two-way trade between the two countries has risen since the deal went into effect in December 2015, making Vietnam the fourth-largest trading partner of South Korea.

South Korea imported US$980 million worth of Vietnamese farm and livestock goods last year, compared with $730 million in 2015, according to the data compiled by the Korea Rural Economic Institute (KREI).

Vietnamese goods accounted for 3.5 percent of South Korea's total farm and livestock imports last year, compared with 2.8 percent in 2015.

The KREI predicted that the pace of growth in South Korea's imports of Vietnamese farm products is expected to quicken over the bilateral trade deal.
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