Vietnam and the Republic of Korea (RoK) should make a greater effort to fully tap potential for stronger cooperation, striving to raise bilateral trade to US$100 billion in the near future.

The agreement was reached during the 18th meeting of the Vietnam-RoK Inter-governmental Committee on Economic, Scientific and Technical Cooperation. The event was virtually held in Hanoi on November 17 by the Vietnamese Ministry of Industry and Trade and the RoK’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Addressing the meeting, Vietnamese Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Tran Quoc Phuong stated that co-operation ties between the two countries have developed in all fields over the past year. 2020 marks 28 years of diplomatic ties between Vietnam and the RoK, and 30 years since the latter provided Official Development Assistance (ODA) to the former.

Indeed, both sides have recorded a number of outstanding achievements and have enjoyed good relations for the past 28 years, he noted.

Sharing Phuong’s view, Deputy Minister for Economic Affairs at the RoK’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs Lee Seong-ho said that the two countries benefitted from close and effective co-operation across all fields, suggesting that both sides strive to promote exchanges and share information and experience to fully tap potential for stronger cooperation.

Last year the RoK was Vietnam’s third largest trading partner, behind only China and the United States. During the first nine months the year, their two-way trade stood at US$47.5 billion, a decline of 5.1% compared to the same period from last year.

At the meeting, delegates proposed that the RoK should create favourable conditions for Vietnamese exporters in order to allow bilateral trade to reach US$100 billion in the near future.

With regard to foreign direct investment, as of October, the RoK had approximately 8,900 valid projects with total registered investment capital of US$70.4 billion, ranking first in terms of registered capital and project numbers in Vietnam.

The Korean side also suggested that Vietnamese authorities should assist Korean firms to expand their business operations in the country as the global economy is recovering from the initial impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Furthermore, firms from the RoK have also been encouraged to move their investments from other countries and learn about the Vietnamese investment environment, especially in priority fields such as high-technology, renewable energy, infrastructure development, health care, and tourism.

Both sides also discussed the potential for co-operation in the fields of labour, environment, finance, and banking.