The Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency held a promotion event for South Korean goods in Ho Chi Minh City, gathering more than 15,000 customers over three days. (image: Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency)
SEOUL, Dec. 18 (Korea Bizwire) — Park Hang-seo, the South Korean head coach of Vietnam’s national football team, added another feather to his cap as his team won the 2018 AFF Suzuki Cup last Saturday.
‘Park Fever’ is enticing Vietnamese customers to buy more South Korean goods.
The Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA) held a promotion event for South Korean goods in Ho Chi Minh City, gathering more than 15,000 customers over three days.
A total of 107 South Korean companies as well as 45,000 local customers both online and offline participated in the event.
Health and beauty products were most popular. Following the Suzuki Cup finals, offline sales easily exceeded 23 million won (US$20,360).
“Before the finals, sales had reached 15 million won, but the total soared to 25 million won after Park won the Suzuki Cup,” said a source from KOTRA.
“Online promotion, which will continue until the end of December, will contribute to reaching 200 million won (US$177,000) in both online and offline sales by the end of the year.”
Cam Tuoi, a local beauty YouTuber, was amazed at how more than 100,000 followers had subscribed to her YouTube channel just a couple weeks after she uploaded a video about South Korean cosmetic goods.
KOTRA has designated Cam and 13 other ‘Korean Supporters’ to promote the sales event via social media.
Tariff cuts recently made in accordance with the Free Trade Agreement signed between South Korea and Vietnam in 2015 helped SMEs in South Korea export goods to Vietnam.
Starting this year, food products including seasoning and beverages will be exempt from tariffs, which will be followed by small-sized kitchenware next year.
Tariffs for cosmetics and other beauty products will also be reduced to 5 percent in 2021.
Vietnam is a young and vibrant country with a population of 100 million and an average age of only 30.9 years.
More than 60 percent of the population uses a mobile phone, with the number of active Facebook accounts exceeding 52 million.
“Vietnam’s consumer market is growing as the country maintains almost 7 percent annual economic growth, calling on us to create both online and offline strategies to meet local needs,” said Kim Doo-young, executive vice president for innovative growth at KOTRA.
“When it comes to online products, Vietnamese consumers tend to visit offline stores first to try them out before buying them online.”
H. M. Kang (hmkang@koreabizwire.com)
