Vietnam encourages businesses from the Republic of Korea (RoK) to make investment in specialized industrial parks targeting Korean firms and Vietnamese small- and medium-sized enterprises.

At the reception

Deputy Prime Minister Vuong Dinh Hue made the call while receiving Chairman of the Korea Federation of Small and Medium Enterprises (KBIZ) Kim Ki-mun in Hanoi on September 5.

He asked the KBIZ to work with Vietnam’s Ministry of Planning and Investment and concerned localities to select locations and methods to implement such projects.

The Deputy PM also proposed the KBIZ help Vietnam to improve skills for local workers.

He said the RoK is one of the biggest foreign investor in Vietnam with total registered capital of 65 billion USD. Two-way trade reached 64 billion USD in 2018, and is expected to hit 100 billion USD by 2020, he noted.

Deputy PM Hue informed his guest that the Politburo of the Communist Party of Vietnam had issued Resolution 50-NQ/TW mapping out orientations to improve the country’ institutional system and policies to increase the quality of foreign investment cooperation through 2030. He added that the Government will have an action plan to implement the resolution for the next 10 years.

The Government will continue to attract foreign investment and offer high incentive mechanisms for projects using modern and environmentally-friendly technology, and investors with good management skills and willing to connect with domestic businesses, he revealed.

He added that the Government will submit the revised Law on Investment to the National Assembly at the legislature’s upcoming session in October 2019, focusing on improving policies to attract FDI, protect investment, strengthen State management, promote foreign investment and international integration.

Kim Ki-mun said the RoK’s Government is conducting the construction of RoK industrial parks in other countries based on its New Southern Policy. 

Besides Myanmar, Vietnam is a destination that Korean firms want to invest in building such industrial parks, he said.

Noting that some 47,000 Vietnamese workers are working in the RoK, Kim said Vietnamese workers need to further improve their skills. He also asked the Vietnamese Government to relax rules on overtime working hours to meet the needs and interests of both employers and workers. 

Deputy PM Hue said the Vietnamese Government has proposed the National Assembly consider extending overtime working hours for some industries such as garment-textile, footwear, and processing seasonal agricultural products as well as raise the retirement age of both male and female employees.