Vietnam ready to facilitate Korean investment

President Nguyen Xuan Phuc made the statement during a reception held on October 18 in Hanoi for RoK Foreign Minister Park Jin, who is on an official visit to Vietnam.

Welcoming the RoK Minister on his visit, the Vietnamese State leader expressed great appreciation for the successful results of talks between FM Jin and his Vietnamese counterpart Bui Thanh Son.

The State President congratulated the RoK on their socio-economic achievements and strong development, rising to become the fourth largest economy in Asia and the 10th in the world. Indeed, the RoK has recorded many important achievements in defence, science, technology, and culture.

This year has seen the two countries celebrate 30 years of diplomatic ties, with President Phuc saying that effective co-operation in all fields is taking mutual ties towards new heights.

Therefore, the President said that the visit by the Korean Foreign Minister is of great significance as part of the process of promoting the mutual relationship between the two countries and developing a deep, efficient, practical, and comprehensive relationship.

In response, Korean Minister Jin expressed his sadness for Vietnamese people about the losses caused by recent storms and floods. He stated his belief that, with what Vietnam has achieved, the nation will grow to become a middle-income country with a modern industry by 2030.

Despite being negatively impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, FM Park said that trade turnover between the two sides is continuing to increase.

Currently, there are a very large number of RoK enterprises investing in the Vietnamese market, with the RoK always considering Vietnam to be a strategic partner in ODA development assistance.

The Minister shared that once the pandemic was brought under control, the number of Vietnamese people traveling to the RoK increased rapidly, affirming that the RoK Government has adopted a policy aimed at ensuring the safety of Vietnamese people coming to the RoK for work. In addition, there is also a centre to support multicultural families, he added.

Minister Park asked Vietnam to support the RoK to host the 2030 World Expo.
Appreciating the RoK's efforts to promote bilateral co-operation, President Phuc said that in the current complicated international context, both sides continue to enjoy close co-operation such as regular high-level exchanges and contacts to enhance political-diplomatic trust. This is along with periodically carrying out dialogue and co-operation mechanisms, and ties in national defence and security, especially in the defence industry.

Emphasising that economic co-operation is always an important pillar of the relationship between the two countries, the President suggested that both sides pay close attention to and effectively exploit the Vietnam-Rok Free Trade Agreement. This is along with the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) which aims to achieve the goal of raising bilateral trade turnover to US$100 billion by 2023 and US$150 billion by 2030.

The nation therefore welcomes Korean financiers to expand their investment scale in the Vietnamese market, currently at US$80 billion, especially in the fields of digital technology, electronics, renewable energy, and infrastructure development.

President Phuc outlined his wish that the RoK will continue to provide ODA support for the country on a larger scale, whilst seeking to strengthen people-to-people and cultural exchanges, thereby deepening people’s mutual understanding of each other's culture.