The deal will push forward a bilateral trade of 70 billion USD by 2020, making it easier for Vietnamese goods to enter the RoK, especially agro-forestry and garment. It is also a boost to Korean investments in Vietnam, including technology transfer, he said.

The PM was in the RoK to attend a commemorative summit marking 25 years of the ASEAN – RoK dialogue relations. He met President Park Geun-hye, the Mayor of Busan city, and the Korean business community.

At talks with the Vietnamese leader, the RoK President reiterated that her country considers Vietnam as a top partner in its official development assistance policy and pledged priority to infrastructure, green growth and human resources development projects in the country.

Both host and guest agreed to facilitate high-level visits and contacts while expanding cooperation among ministries, agencies and localities via dialogue mechanisms.

They vowed to work closely together to protect legitimate interests of their people, given that the number of Vietnamese and Korean citizens in each country is nearing 130,000.

Elaborating on Vietnam’s role in promoting ties between ASEAN and the RoK, Khoi said Vietnam is always a bridge connecting them on the back of its robust ties with the RoK and its central position in Southeast Asia.

Vietnam has actively undertaken action plans benefiting the bloc and the East Asian nation, and together with regional countries, reached orientations for their future collaboration as ASEAN is working towards a common Community by late 2015, he said.

The summit, themed “Building Trust, Bringing Happiness”, reached a common perception in regional and global issues, including the Korean peninsula and regional security.

The leaders adopted a joint statement describing a vision for the ASEAN-RoK strategic partnership, laying down a series of ways to deepen their political-security, economic and socio-cultural connections.

PM assures RoK firms of all possible support

Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung promised all possible support for businesses from the Republic of Korea (RoK) to invest in Vietnam when he attended a dialogue with the Korean business community in Busan city on December 10.

Talking with representatives from over 40 RoK enterprises, the PM noted with pleasure that the RoK is currently the largest foreign investor in Vietnam with nearly 37 billion USD in total poured into the country so far.

Two-way trade between the two countries has grown steadily by around 20 percent annually and the RoK is the third largest trade partner of Vietnam. The RoK is also the second largest source of tourists and provider of official development assistance for Vietnam, behind Japan only.

With the free trade agreement slated for signing in early 2015, the government leader expressed his confidence in the good prospects of economic, trade and investment ties between Vietnam and the RoK, declaring that Vietnam has been improving its business climate to catch up with other regional nations.

At the event, he also clarified issues related to Vietnam’s policies to attract foreign investment.

VNA/VNN