PM Chính’s visit to RoK a success, bolstering bilateral ties: Foreign minister

Vietnamese Prime Minister Phạm Minh Chính and his wife wrote down in the guestbook at the State banquet hosted by South Korean counterpart Han Duck Soo and spouse on July 2, 2024 in Seoul. — VNA/VNS Photo Dương Giang

HÀ NỘI — Prime Minister Phạm Minh Chính’s four-day official visit to the Republic of Korea (RoK) was a success, as seen in five aspects, Foreign Minister Bùi Thanh Sơn has told the media.

Firstly, the FM said, the visit produced many important outcomes, including the release of a joint statement with eight major contents highlighting the progress of the Việt Nam-RoK relationship since its upgrade to a comprehensive strategic partnership in 2022 and specific measures to promote bilateral cooperation in the fields of politics-diplomacy, trade, investment, science-technology, culture, tourism, labour, people-to-people exchange and new collaboration areas.

Ministries, sectors and businesses of the two sides signed 40 cooperation agreements in digital transformation, renewable energy, green transition, climate change, the semiconductor industry, AI, collaboration among SMEs, culture and tourism, he said.

Secondly, the visit helped strengthen mutual political trust and reinforce the close personal relations between senior leaders of the two countries, stated the diplomat, adding that the leaders affirmed their determination to realise high-level agreements and make bilateral comprehensive partnership more substantive, effective and long lasting.

RoK leaders highlighted the similarities between the two countries in history and culture, along with economic and workforce characteristics, with nearly 300,000 Vietnamese nationals residing in the RoK and 200,000 Koreans in Việt Nam, along with 90,000 Vietnamese-Korean multicultural families, as a favourable factor for the close bonds.

Korean leaders also affirmed that Việt Nam is a focus in RoK’s foreign policy in the region, including the Indo-Pacific Strategy and the Korea-ASEAN Solidarity Initiative (KASI). PM Chính reiterated Việt Nam’s support for the RoK’s development policies and goals, including the ‘Global Pivotal State’ policy.

The visit also yielded practical results in the fields of economy, trade and investment, contributing to implementing the action programme reached in June 2023, FM Sơn said.

Việt Nam and the RoK agreed that economy is one of the leading important pillars in their cooperation and concurred to deploy specific measures to reach the target of US$100 billion in two-way trade in 2025 and $150 billion in 2030. They vowed to finalise procedures to open their respective markets for Vietnamese pomelos and Korean melons this year.

RoK leaders affirmed that the RoK continues to consider Việt Nam a strategic partner in development cooperation, pledging to support Vietnamese firms in enhancing their capacity to engage more deeply in the production and supply chains of Korean firms. The two sides also agreed to strengthen cooperation in building stable core mineral supply chains.

At the Việt Nam-RoK business forum and the seminar with leading economic groups of the RoK in energy and finance, PM Chính witnessed the signing of 23 cooperation deals among businesses and localities of the two countries.

Korean firms praised Việt Nam’s investment environment and expressed their great interest in investing in Việt Nam in the fields of supporting industries, digital transformation, the green economy, semiconductors, environmentally friendly energy, biotechnology, the 5G network and smart cities.

A fourth aspect of the visit was that the two sides have agreed to promote collaboration in human resources, culture and tourism. The RoK committed to assisting Việt Nam in training agricultural workers and providing favourable conditions for Vietnamese labourers to live and work in the country, the FM stated.

He noted that Việt Nam and the RoK concurred to bolster cultural, tourism and education cooperation towards the target of five million people engaging in people-to-people exchange. The RoK will support Việt Nam to launch a consulate general in Busan in 2024 and a Vietnamese cultural centre in the RoK, while helping Việt Nam promote the development of cultural industries. PM Chính suggested that the RoK simplify visa procedures and moving towards visa exemption for Vietnamese citizens.

The final positive was that the PM’s visit opened up many cooperation opportunities between the two sides across various areas such as innovation, high technology, renewable energy, digital transformation, green transformation, climate change response, semiconductors and AI.

The RoK agreed to consider setting up mechanisms on specific projects in semiconductor, AI and innovation human resources training and pledged to provide $30 million in four years for research and development projects and the second phase of the Vietnam-Korea Institute of Science and Technology (VKIST) project.

The RoK affirmed that it will support Việt Nam in organising the Partnering for Green Growth and the Global Goals 2030 (P4G) Summit in April 2025, FM Sơn said.

During the visit to the RoK from June 30 to July 3, PM Chính engaged in 34 activities. He held talks with his counterpart Han Duck Soo, had meetings with President Yoon Suk Yeol and the Speaker of the RoK’s National Assembly Woo Won Shik and he also delivered a speech on Vietnamese policy at Seoul National University in Seoul, while also meeting executives of a number of Korean firms. — VNS