Mr Dung made the statement while receiving Park Jin, chairman of the RoK Foreign Affairs, Trade and Unification Committee in Hanoi on December 11.

He said the two countries should increase the exchange of delegation visits to share information and experiences, contributing to their common development.

He noted that there are more than 90,000 RoK citizens living and working in Vietnam and the same number of Vietnamese nationals residing in the RoK. Therefore, he said cooperation efforts will not only bring about practical results to the two countries, but also contribute to peace, friendship and cooperation in the region.

PM Dung proposed that the RoK assist vocational training and language teaching for Vietnamese workers and create favourable conditions for them to live and work in the country.
Vietnam attaches great importance to promoting cooperation in culture and education with the RoK, said Mr Dung.

He assured his guest that Vietnam will do its utmost to strengthen cooperative ties between the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the RoK when it assumes the ASEAN Chairmanship in 2010.

Chairman Park said both countries have more opportunities for cooperation in 2010 when the RoK chairs the G20 and Vietnam presides over ASEAN. He said the RoK and Vietnam should work harder to raise bilateral trade value to US$20 billion by 2015.

The RoK official expressed his desire to boost cooperation with Vietnam in the environmentally-friendly high technology.

Mr Park is leading a delegation of RoK parliamentarians to Vietnam.