(VOVworld)- Vietnam’s export turnover with the Republic of Korea (RoK) in the first seven months of this year rose more than 10 percent on-year to over 18 billion USD.

According to the Korea International Trade Association (KITA), the amount made Vietnam the world third largest importer of the RoK after China and the US. The sharp increase was attributed to the bilateral free trade agreement which became effective late last year, promoting trade exchanges between the two countries that have seen a strong rise following the FTA between the RoK and ASEAN, to which including Vietnam is a member since 2007. The increasing trend was recorded amidst the continuous fall in RoK exports since early 2015.