The commitment was made at a joint Vietnam – RoK economic forum held in Seoul on August 12, attracting the participation of more than 400 leading businesses of the two countries.

Speaking at the forum, RoK Prime Minister Kim Min-seok highlighted the longstanding close and trusting relationship between the two countries since establishing diplomatic ties in 1992. The RoK is currently Vietnam’s largest investor and a key trading partner, playing an indispensable role across various economic fields.

He emphasised the need to continue building a stronger, long-term partnership, and expanding cooperation from traditional industries to new, advanced sectors, aiming for a multi-layered, multi-dimensional partnership. He reiterated the RoK’s desire to cooperate with Vietnam in diversifying supply sources and ensuring energy security, noting documents signed during Party General Secretary To Lam’s ongoing visit provide a solid foundation for future cooperation.

Highlighting Vietnam’s potential, Prime Minister Kim expressed confidence that with its young workforce, attractive investment environment, and existing trade networks, Vietnam would achieve its goal of becoming a high-income economy by 2045.

The Republic of Korea pledges to remain a reliable partner to help Vietnam create a “Miracle on the Red River” akin to the RoK’s Miracle on the Han River, he said.

At the forum, General Secretary To Lam highlighted Vietnam’s positive socio-economic achievements in 2024 and the first half of 2025. He underscored that 2025 is a pivotal year for accelerating progress toward the 2021–2025 development goals and laying a foundation for a new era of strong, prosperous, and civilised national development.

He stressed that Vietnam is continuing institutional reforms, improving the investment and business environment, removing bottlenecks, and promoting economic restructuring. The country prioritizes science, technology, innovation, and cultural values as core development drivers. It is shifting from broad to selective foreign investment attraction, focusing on projects with advanced, clean technologies, modern management, high added value, spillover effects, and global production and supply chain integration.

He called on ministries, sectors, and localities to enhance dialogue to resolve difficulties faced by Korean investors in Vietnam, by streamlining administrative procedures, increasing digital transformation, decentralising authority, and reducing compliance and input costs for people and businesses. Preparation of infrastructure, including transportation, human resources, electricity supply, and clean land, should be prioritised, alongside forming inter-sectoral task forces to address challenges and support investors.

The General Secretary urged Korean agencies to continue supporting and promoting investment dialogues and connections, facilitating Vietnamese enterprises’ expansion and market access in the RoK.

Both sides agreed to implement effective measures to reach bilateral trade targets of US$100 billion by 2025 and US$150 billion by 2030. They also pledged to boost Official Development Assistance (ODA) focusing on strategic infrastructure such as transportation, energy, digital infrastructure, and climate resilience.

The Vietnamese leader emphasised science, technology, and innovation as crucial pillars of bilateral cooperation, especially for enterprise development and socio-economic growth.

During the forum, business representatives from both countries discussed priority sectors for cooperation, including clean and green energy, high-tech industries, digital infrastructure, as well as strengthening production chains and value chain linkages.

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Bui Thanh Son expressed confidence that Vietnam–RoK relations would continue to be consolidated, effectively and sustainably developed, benefiting the peoples of both countries and contributing to regional and global peace, stability, and development.

Vietnam is committed to creating favourable conditions to attract more Korean businesses to invest, and to support existing investors to expand, laying the groundwork for successful and sustainable growth in the country, he said.

At the forum, General Secretary To Lam and RoK Prime Minister Kim Min-seok witnessed the exchange of cooperation agreements between the two countriews’ sectors, localities and businesses in various fields, including media, green growth, high-tech park development, clean energy, shipbuilding, power grid development, artificial intelligence, high-tech agriculture, logistics, digital infrastructure, and digital transformation.

Party General Secretary To Lam’s RoK visit grabs international headlines

VOV.VN - Foreign media outlets, including those in the Republic of Korea (RoK), have extensively covered the first visit to the RoK by General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam To Lam in 11 years, projecting positive prospects for bilateral relations in the time ahead.