Vietnam, RoK target US$100 billion in bilateral trade by 2020

The target was shared by Prime Minister of the Republic of Korea (RoK) Lee Nak-yon and Vietnam’s Deputy Prime Minister Truong Hoa Binh at their meeting in Seoul on November 21.

During the meeting, they

expressed their delight at the growing strategic cooperative partnership between the two countries, saying a

host of measures were discussed to promote political trust and cooperative relations by maintaining high-level delegation exchanges and carrying out effectively existing cooperation mechanisms and dialogues such as the Vietnam-RoK strategic dialogue on diplomacy, security and defense.

They concurred to advance cooperation at multilateral forums and in a variety of fields such aas culture, education, tourism, labour, and people-to-people exchanges while actively supporting and ensuring safety and legitimate rights for citizens in the respective countries.

Deputy PM Truong Hoa Binh thanked the RoK’s Government for providing US$1 million to support flood victims in central Vietnam.

He said he welcomes Korean businesses to increase investments in Vietnam in high technology, environmental protection, processing and manufacturing industry, support industry, renewable energy, infrastructure development, and hi-tech agriculture.

Binh invited Korean businesses to engage in the process of equitising State-owned enterprises, restructuring commercial banks, and developing special administrative-economic zones in Vietnam.

He suggested the RoK facilitate the penetration of Vietnamese key products into the Korean market, especially agro-forestry-fishery products, as well as support Vietnam to join the RoK’s global supply chains and provide non-refundable aid packages for technical assistance, human resources training, agricultural and rural development, and energy safety.

The official asked the two countries to soon sign a support agreement in civil affairs and trade and extending a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on supplying and receiving Vietnamese workers to the RoK under the Employment Permit System (EPS), which will expire in May 2018.

He asked the RoK to apply visa exemption and make it easier for Vietnamese travelers to enter the RoK through increasing direct flights between the two countries. He suggested boosting coordination in regional and international affairs of shared concerns, especially maintaining peace and stability in the Asian-Pacific region.

Prime Minister Lee Nak-yon hailed the bilateral relations after 25 years of diplomatic ties, affirming his nation's recognition of great importance to developing strategic cooperative partnership with Vietnam and will direct all relevant ministries and departments to realize effectively the bilateral cooperation agreements.

Meeting with President of the RoK-Vietnam Friendship Association Choi Young-joo the same day, Deputy PM Truong Hoa Binh proposed the association continue coordinating with the Vietnam-RoK Friendship Association and the Vietnamese Embassy in the RoK to enhance cooperation, particularly in economics and people-to-people exchanges.

He also met with representatives from the RoK’s leading businesses, including the SK Group, the KB Financial Group, and the Maeil Business Newspaper.