He said noteworthy in bilateral ties were the official visits by the two countries’ leaders, including the RoK visit by Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung and Vietnam visit by RoK President Lee Myung-Bak. The two countries’ leaders agreed to turn bilateral ties into the strategic cooperative partnership for the sake of peace, stability and development.

The Ambassador was optimistic about the two countries’ relations in the fields of trade and investment in 2010, saying that the two sides’ economies are expected to grow quite well next year as they both successfully managed the economic crisis in 2009.

He said RoK businesses remain interested in investing in Vietnam and they will actively contribute to Vietnam in the fields of health care, education and scholarship provision.

Mr Im Hong Jae added that the RoK has pledged to provide the Official Development Aid worth US$270 million to Vietnam next year and is considering donating non-refundable aid to various projects in Vietnam. In the coming time, the RoK will deploy three projects in environment and public transportation in the Southeast Asian nation.

By the end of November, the RoK invested US$20.4 billion into nearly 2,300 projects in Vietnam and the two countries are trying their best to raise two-way trade up to US$20 billion by 2015.