HCM City, Seoul to strengthen ties

A delegation from HCM City People’s Council meets with its counterpart from the Seoul Metropolitan Council on December 20. — VNA/VNS Photo

HCM CITY — HCM City and South Korea’s Seoul will strengthen their cooperation across multiple areas such as education and economy, the two cities’ authorities have said.

A delegation from the HCM City People’s Council led by its deputy chairman Phạm Thành Kiên met up with its counterpart from Seoul Metropolitan Council (led by its chairman Hyeonki Kim) on Wednesday to discuss cooperation between the two agencies.

According to Kiên, in 2023, South Korea had 127 new investment projects in HCM City with total capital of around US$27 million. Currently, the country has 2,159 investment projects worth around $5.5 billion in the city, ranking fourth out of 120 countries and territories.

The number of Korean tourists visiting the city has also been rising quickly, which demonstrates the strong relationship between South Korea and Việt Nam, as well as between HCM City and regions in Korea, he said.

Kiên said that HCM City had just established friendly relations with South Korea’s Chungcheongbuk Province, bringing the total number of Korean localities with friendly cooperative relations with the city to eight. 

HCM City People’s Council also established friendly and cooperative relations with the Busan Metropolitan Council and Incheon Metropolitan Council.

The visit of the Seoul Metropolitan Council’s delegation to the city would open up many more opportunities for exchange and cooperation between the two councils, Kiên added.

There was more room for exchange and cooperation between the legislatures of HCM City and South Korean localities, so he hoped that the two sides would work together more in the future, especially on economic cooperation, experience exchange, university student training, and enhancing the quality of state workforces, as well as encouraging businesses from Korea and Seoul to look for cooperation opportunities with Việt Nam and HCM City.

Hyeonki Kim expressed his gratitude to HCM City’s welcome, and his happiness towards the positive developments in South Korea – Việt Nam relations, and how the two countries elevated their relations to the level of “Comprehensive Strategic Partnership” last year.

The cooperative relations between Seoul and HCM City had been growing strongly across many areas, including commerce and cultural exchange.

He highly valued HCM City’s position and economic development potential, and he was willing to share Seoul’s development experience with HCM City, covering areas such as start-up ecosystem development and business networking.

The Seoul Metropolitan Council would strengthen its cooperation with HCM City in economy and education. It would also increase the number of dormitories, accommodations and scholarships for Vietnamese university students, student exchange, and training for improving HCM City’s manpower.

He also would like the HCM City People’s Council and Seoul Metropolitan Council to work on and sign agreements for tighter connecting and cooperation activities

He also expressed his thanks to HCM City for creating favourable conditions for Korean locals working, studying and living in the city, and said that his city would also create favourable conditions and care for the lives of Vietnamese in Seoul.

On December 19, the Seoul Metropolitan Council’s delegation visited Hà Nội to meet with the National Assembly (NA). Nguyễn Khắc Định, vice chairman of the NA, said that Việt Nam treasured its relations with the Republic of Korea (RoK), and wanted to join hands to deepen their comprehensive strategic partnership in all areas. — VNS