President Nguyen Xuan Phuc recently hosted a reception for Kim Kill Soo, President of the Korea & Vietnam Economic and Cultural Association (KOVECA), who is on a working visit to Vietnam, during which the latter said his association launched a range of specific activities in Ho Chi Minh City and will continue to do the same in Hanoi, including the RoK-Vietnam Cooperation Forum - VIKO30.
Kim Kill Soo said that more and more top Korean enterprises are showing their interest in investing in Vietnam, in which they desire to invest in the development of projects in the Red River area in the hope of developing this area like the miracle of the Han River of the RoK.
Representatives from some Korean associations attending the meeting also hoped that the two countries would step up cooperation in waste treatment, employment and sports exchange.
The Vietnamese State leader highly appreciated the Korea-Vietnam Economic-Cultural Exchange Association and its member associations for their interest in investing in multiple fields in Vietnam and suggested businesses use the most modern technology in environmental protection.
Emphasizing that the strong, comprehensive and substantive development of the cooperative relations between Vietnam and the RoK, Phuc said that right after taking office, President of the Republic of Korea Yoon Seok-yeol had a telephone conversation with the Vietnamese State leader and Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong.
The leaders agreed to upgrade the two countries' relations to new heights into a comprehensive strategic partnership, thereby opening a new period of cooperation for the next 30 years and beyond.
In the current areas of cooperation, President Phuc assessed that the economy has always been a bright spot and has achieved many outstanding results, with the bilateral trade turnover reaching nearly US$80 billion. The two countries have also cooperated well in the fields of ODA, labor, tourism, and more.
Both nations' leaders voiced their hope that next year, bilateral trade turnover will hit US$100 billion and the RoK Korea will remain the leading investor in Vietnam. To reach this goal, President Phuc underlined the important role of businesses.
According to him, in the current achievements of the two countries, there is an important contribution of the RoK-Vietnam Economic and Cultural Exchange Association with a wide range of activities to promote cooperation with the Association for Liaison with Vietnamese abroad.
The President asked the Association to coordinate with the Vietnamese Embassy in the RoK and Vietnamese agencies and localities to organize many activities to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the two countries' diplomatic relations.
Phuc suggested the Association and other Korean economic organizations encourage Korean businesses to promote the advantages of the Vietnam-RoK Free Trade Agreement, and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) in a bid to expand balanced trade, and intensify investment in Vietnam, especially in projects on high-tech, renewable energy, environmentally friendly industries, technology transfer, increase the rate of localization.
Roughly 200,000 Vietnamese and 200,000 Koreans are living, working and studying in each other's countries, the President said, this is an important bridge to promote friendly relations between the two countries' people.
The Vietnamese State leader asked the Association to coordinate with the Vietnamese Ambassador in the RoK to support and protect Vietnamese people living, working and studying in the host nation.
Associations and culture, art, and sports organizations of the RoK should also beef up cooperation with Vietnamese competent agencies to deepen people-to-people exchanges and cooperation between the two countries, Phuc went on to say.
The association's members expressed their desire to be interested by the Party and State of Vietnam as a way of creating more favorable conditions for the RoK's long-term investment in Vietnam, especially with long-term projects on infrastructure development, climate change adaptation, environmental protection, real estate, smart city development, blockchain, and AI, thereby fostering the relationship between Vietnam and the RoK for mutual prosperity, development, and benefits the two countries' people.
On this occasion, the RoK-Vietnam Economic and Cultural Exchange Association presented a portrait of President Ho Chi Minh composed by a Korean artist to President Nguyen Xuan Phuc.
