PM Chinh’s visit to RoK achieve great success: FM

According to details given by the Vietnamese diplomat, the visit recorded many important results, including the release of a joint statement with eight major contents highlighting the progress made in the joint relationship since its upgrade to a comprehensive strategic partnership back in 2022. This is along with specific measures aimed at beefing up bilateral ties in politics-diplomacy, trade, investment, science-technology, culture, tourism, labour, people-to-people exchange, and new collaboration areas.

Both sides signed 40 co-operation agreements in digital transformation, renewable energy, green transition, climate change, semiconductors, artificial intelligence, collaboration among small- and medium-sized enterprises, culture, and tourism.

The visit helped to consolidate mutual political trust whilst fostering close personal relations between senior leaders of the two countries, said FM Son, adding that the leaders affirmed their determination to carry out high-level agreements whilst making the comprehensive bilateral partnership more substantive, effective, and long lasting.

RoK leaders underlined the similarities between the two nations in terms of history, culture, and supplementary characteristics in economy and human resources. In addition, with close to 300,000 Vietnamese nationals residing in the RoK and 200,000 Koreans in Vietnam, along with 90,000 Vietnamese-Korean multicultural families, this can be seen as a favourable factor for the close bonds and development of ties between the two countries.

They also reiterated that the Vietnamese side represents a focus in the RoK’s foreign policy in the region, including the Indo-Pacific Strategy and the Korea-ASEAN Solidarity Initiative (KASI). PM Chinh therefore assured Vietnamese support for the RoK's development policies and goals, including the "Global Key Country" policy.

The trip produced practical outcomes in the areas of economics, trade, and investment as a contribution to realising the action programme reached in June 2023, FM Son said.

Vietnam and the RoK agreed that the economy is one of the most important pillars in co-operation, concurring to roll out specific measures to swiftly achieve the US$100 billion two-way trade target ahead in 2025 and US$150 billion by 2030 towards a balanced and sustainable direction. They therefore pledged to finalise procedures in a bid to open their respective markets for Vietnamese pomelos and Korean melons this year.

RoK leaders also affirmed that the RoK continues to regard the country as a strategic partner in development ties, pledging to support Vietnamese firms in strengthening their capacity to engage more deeply in the production and supply chains of Korean firms. Both sides also consented to augment linkages in building stable core mineral supply chains.

At the Vietnam-RoK business forum and the seminar held alongside leading economic groups of the RoK in energy and finance, the Vietnamese Government leader witnessed the signing of 23 co-operation deals among businesses and localities of the two countries.

Korean firms noted their appreciation for the Vietnamese investment environment and showed a keen  interest in fields such as supporting industries, digital transformation, the green economy, semiconductors, environmentally friendly energy, biotechnology, the 5G network, and smart cities.

Through the visit, both parties concurred to boost collaboration efforts in human resources, labour, culture, and tourism. The RoK committed to assisting Vietnam in training agricultural workers whilst offering favourable conditions for Vietnamese labourers to live and work in the country, the FM said.

The two countries agreed to ramp up cultural, tourism, and education co-operation towards meeting the target of five million people engaging in people-to-people exchanges. The RoK will duly support the nation in opening a consulate general in Busan this year and a Vietnamese cultural centre in the RoK, while also helping the Vietnamese side to accelerate the development of cultural industries. PM Chinh suggested that the RoK simplify visa procedures, moving towards visa exemption for Vietnamese citizens.

The visit opened up plenty of co-operation opportunities between the two sides across multiple fields such as innovation, high technology, renewable energy, digital transformation, green transformation, climate change response, semiconductors, and artificial intelligence.

The RoK agreed to consider building mechanisms aimed at discussing orientations and specific projects in semiconductors, AI, and innovation human resources training, pledging to provide US$30 million in four years for research and development projects and the second phase of the Vietnam-Korea Institute of Science and Technology (VKIST) project.

The RoK affirmed that it will support the Vietnamese side in holding the Partnering for Green Growth and the Global Goals 2030 (P4G) Summit in April, 2025, FM Son continued.

During the four-day visit to the RoK, PM Chinh engaged in a broad array of diverse activities. He held talks with his counterpart Han Duck Soo and had meetings with President Yoon Suk Yeol and Speaker of the RoK’s National Assembly Woo Won Shik. The Vietnamese Government chief also gave a speech detailing Vietnamese policy at Seoul National University in Seoul, met with executives of a number of Korean firms, and visited a Vietnamese-Korean family, the FM concluded.