RoK’s investment in Vietnam up 250 times

The figures were released by RoK ambassador to Vietnam, Jun Dae Joo in an interview granted to VOV before President Park Geun-hye’s official visit to Vietnam from September 7-11, which is her third overseas trip since taking office in early February.

President Park is scheduled to work with top Vietnamese leaders on a new vision for strategic cooperation and partnership between the two nations. Excerpts from the interview:

Reporter: Could you tell us about the significance of her coming visit to Vietnam?

Ambassador Jun Dae Joo: The Republic of Korea (RoK) is one of Vietnam’s leading important economic partners. The visit aims to affirm that Vietnam is both a friend and an important partner of the RoK.

RoK ambassador to Vietnam, Jun Dae Joo

The RoK and Vietnam share similarities in history, culture and sentiments. The relationship has been strengthened by the traditional friendship and family ties between citizens of the two countries as there are around 35,000 Vietnamese brides living in the RoK.

Since 1992, their diplomatic ties have seen strong growth with bilateral trade turnover increasing by 44 fold (from US$490 million to US$21.67 billion) and the rate of investment in Vietnam by 250 times (from US$100 million to US$25 billion).

Reporter: What are the immediate goals set by both countries?

Ambassador Jun Dae Joo: They are very active in the process of FTA negotiations which started in August 2012 to be followed by two rounds held in September 2012 and May 2013.

The coming round of FTA negotiations is scheduled for later this year and both nations expect to finish the process as soon as possible. There is high hope that after the signing of FTA, cooperation in trade and investment between the RoK and Vietnam will be strengthened and expanded for mutual benefits.

Reporter: Thank you.