HA NOI – There was still plenty of room for Vietnamese and Korean businesses to foster co-operation, especially in the trade and investment sectors, Deputy Head of the Ministry of Industry and Trade's Trade Promotion Agency Do Xuan Ha told a business conference held this morning.

Ha said he hoped that more and more Korean firms would come to Viet Nam to learn about the domestic business and investment climate in order to seek new co-operation opportunities.

Viet Nam had emerged as an economy with huge development potential, said Chairman of the Korea Importers Association (KOIMA) Ju-Tae Lee, adding that the country also offered good opportunities for foreign investors.

He said that the event, with the participation of over 30 Korean firms, would help Viet Nam's exporters update the Korean market on recent developments and promote their exports.

Yesterday also witnessed a memorandum of understanding inked between KOIMA and the Viet Nam National Vegetable, Fruit and Agricultural Product Corp.

Korea is one of Viet Nam's biggest trade partners after China, Japan and the US. Two-way trade has continued to grow from $2 billion in 2000 to $9.2 billion in 2009 and $10 billion in the first 10 months of this year.

Korea is also the leading source of foreign investment in Viet Nam with over 2,600 projects worth a combined $22.9 billion in progress. – VNS