Vietnam and the Republic of Korea (RoK) have agreed to lift two-way trade to 100 billion USD by 2020 during talks in Hanoi on March 23 between President Tran Dai Quang and RoK President Moon Jae-in. 

President Tran Dai Quang (R) and RoK President Moon Jae-in 

The talks took place right after the welcome ceremony held on morning the same day. It is the first-ever State visit to Vietnam by President Moon from March 22-24.

President Quang affirmed that Vietnam always highly values developing ties with the RoK and wished that the RoK would continue sharing its experience for sustainable development of the two countries, and for peace, stability, development and prosperity in the region and the world. 

Both sides agreed to maintain annual visits and exchanges, improve the efficiency and frequency of exchange and dialogue mechanisms, extend collaboration between the two nations’ governments, legislatures, Party agencies and localities, and in important fields of diplomacy, national defence, security and legal enforcement. 

Apart from adopting trade balance measures, the two sides vowed to improve the efficiency of partnership across investment, engineering, energy, labour; consider science-technology a pillar to create new momentum for bilateral links, as well as extend cooperation in culture, education, tourism and people-to-people exchange. 

The Vietnamese leader welcomed Korean investment in large-scale infrastructure, industrial and smart urban areas, and equitisation of State-owned enterprises.

He asked the RoK to continue stepping up examination on agro-fishery products and chicken and pork-derived processed food, bring Vietnamese products to domestic and global distribution chains, provide Vietnam with development assistance and preferential credit, and effectively implement the 2016 – 2020 credit frame agreement and financial cooperation deal.

The host spoke highly of the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding on sending and receiving workers to the RoK under the Employment Permit System programme, and wished that the RoK government will continue assisting Vietnamese nationals living in the country. 

The two leaders vowed to further enhance close support at international forums, and jointly cope with global challenges and non-traditional security issues. They underscored the importance of ensuring peace, security, maritime and overflight safety and freedom in the East Sea while promoting the settlement of conflicts and disputes in the East Sea via peaceful means in line with international law. 

The Vietnamese President lauded the RoK’s efforts in accelerating inter-Korean dialogue and peacefully settling the nuclear issue of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. He reiterated Vietnam’s consistent policy of supporting denuclearisation in the Korean peninsula and constructive actions to promote dialogues for the sake of peace, security and stability in the Korean peninsula. 

President Moon stated that the RoK attaches importance to developing strategic cooperative partnership with Vietnam, considers Vietnam an important partner in its New Southern Policy. 

He welcomed the regular exchange of visits between Vietnamese and Korean ministries, agencies and localities, and further strengthening of coordination in support and automobile industries towards a more balanced trade. 

The guest promised to assist Vietnam in human resources development, science-technology, information technology, environment management, agriculture, and extend bonds across transport, energy, infrastructure and smart urban areas. 

The RoK will continue with projects to support Vietnam – RoK multicultural families, and Vietnamese brides living in the two countries, he said. He also expressed his hope for Vietnam’s facilitation of Korean investment in north-south highway and Long Thanh international airport projects. 

Following the talks, host and guest witnessed the signing of cooperation agreements and met the media to inform the outcomes of the talks.

President: Future of Vietnam-RoK ties lies on businesses

The future of Vietnam – the Republic of Korea ties relies on vision, strong will, dynamism and creativity of businesses, President Tran Dai Quang said to the burst of applause by hundreds of firms at the Vietnam – RoK Business Forum held in Hanoi on March 23. 

President Tran Dai Quang

In his speech, President Quang said the event offers the two countries’ businesses an invaluable chance to review cooperation outcomes over the past one fourth century and share vision, prospects and development cooperation chances in the new period, contributing to deepening bilateral strategic cooperative partnership. 

On the basis of sharing core interests in bilateral and multilateral partnership and supplementary economies, the RoK is now the first largest investment partner, the second largest partner in bilateral development cooperation and tourism, and the third largest trade partner of Vietnam. 

With over 59 billion USD worth of registered capital, RoK enterprises are playing active role in Vietnamese industries such as electronics, energy, automobiles, apparel, construction and services, contributing to shifting to new economic structure, creating jobs and ensuring social welfare. 

Two-way trade grew to 64 billion USD in 2017 after the Vietnam – RoK Free Trade Agreement took effect. 

Speaking highly of the RoK’s New Southern Policy in which Vietnam plays a key role, the Vietnamese President affirmed that Vietnam always appreciates ties with the RoK, particularly in economy, trade and investment, considers Korean business community a leading strategic partner in economic restructuring, renovation, knowledge economy development, improvement of growth quality and national competitiveness. 

A number of Korean enterprises working effectively in Vietnam have become an important part to propel economic growth, he said. 

Vietnam commits to continue refining mechanisms, polices and laws to create a business environment up to international standards while upgrading infrastructure, financial-banking system, education and human resources quality, he said. 

In order to achieve the goal of 100 billion USD in two-way trade by 2020, the State leader wished for a more balanced trade and further support for Vietnamese tropical agro-fisheries, apparel, wooden furniture and rubber to enter the RoK. 

He said Vietnam is ready to receive manufacturing spare parts and other goods of strength from the RoK. 

RoK President Moon Jae-in, for his part, lauded Vietnam as a dynamic country and economic hub of ASEAN with average economic growth of 6 percent per year. 

According to him, up to 5,500 Korean firms are operating in Vietnam and creating millions jobs for Vietnamese workers. 

Vietnam has become one of the four largest trade partners of the RoK while the RoK is also the largest investor in the country. Last year, 2.7 million people travelled between the two countries. 

He informed that during recent talks, both sides agreed to lift two-way trade to 100 billion USD by 2020, or half of the RoK’s targeted figure with ASEAN, proving the importance of Vietnam to the RoK. 

Moon wished that Korean firms would continue contributing to Vietnam’s industrialisation and modernisation, and the two governments would facilitate start-ups by Vietnamese and Korean youths.

Later the day, President Tran Dai Quang and his spouse hosted a banquet for President Moon Jae-in and his wife at the My Dinh National Convention Centre. 

VNA