PM Pham Minh Chinh welcomed in Seoul on official visit to RoK
VOV.VN - A high-ranking Vietnamese delegation led by Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and his spouse arrived in Seoul on June 30 afternoon (local time), beginning an official visit to the Republic of Korea at the invitation of RoK Prime Minister Han Duck-soo and his spouse.
Chinh and his entourage were welcomed at Seongnam Air Base in the capital by Oh Young-joo, Minister of Small and Medium Enterprises and Startups, RoK Ambassador to Vietnam Choi Yong-sam, and some other officials of the RoK government.
Vietnamese Ambassador to the RoK Vu Ho, other officials of the Embassy and representatives of the Vietnamese community there were also on hand.
In the solemn and warm atmosphere, the Vietnamese Prime Minister was invited to step onto the podium of honour for the welcoming ceremony. He was then invited to review the guard of honour.
The PM is being accompanied by a number of ministers in charge of foreign affairs; planning and investment; finance; agriculture and rural development; labour, invalids and social affairs; trade and industry; science and technology; natural resources and environment; culture, sports and tourism; and national defence.
This is the first official visit by a senior Vietnamese leader after the two countries upgraded their bilateral relationship to a comprehensive strategic partnership in 2022.
Vietnam and the RoK established diplomatic relations on December 22, 1992, and the two countries upgraded their relationship to a Strategic Cooperative Partnership in October 2009 and a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership in December 2022.
The RoK is the leading economic partner of and the largest investor in Vietnam with US$86 billion in investment as of April 2024. It is also the second largest partner in ODA cooperation of Vietnam, the third largest partner in terms of labour and trade, and the largest source of tourists to Vietnam in 2023.
Statistics show two-way trade turnover reached US$76.1 billion last year. The first four months of this year saw their total import-export turnover hit US$25.5 billion, up 4% year on year.
Approximately 3.6 million Korean tourists visited Vietnam last year, while more than 500,000 Vietnamese travelers selected the RoK as one of their favourite destinations. In the first four months of this year alone, the RoK was the largest tourist market to Vietnam, with 1.6 million arrivals, accounting for 25.8% of the total number of international visitors to the country.
In addition to talks and meetings held with Korean leaders, Chinh will attend and deliver speeches at three forums on business, tourism promotion, and labour co-operation. He will attend two seminars alongside leaders of Korean economic organisations and with Korean intellectuals and scientists on the topics of semiconductors and artificial intelligence.
The PM will also have meetings alongside representatives of several leading Korean economic groups investing in the Vietnamese market. He will call at the Embassy and meet with representatives of the Vietnamese community in the RoK, visit a Vietnamese-Korean multicultural family, give a policy speech at Seoul National University, and visit Samsung Electronics’ semiconductor factory in Pyeongtaek city of Gyeonggi province.
