On July 16, the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency, under South Korea's Ministry of Trade, Industry, and Energy, launched the "Vietnam-South Korea Enhanced Partnership Week 2024".

Lee Ji Huyng, director of Economic and Trade Cooperation at the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency

Speaking at the event, Hoang highly praised the relationship between Vietnam and South Korea, noting that in the past five years, South Korea has been one of the leading investors in Vietnam in terms of both total registered investment capital and number of projects.

“As of June this year, cumulative direct investment from South Korea in Vietnam had reached nearly $87.5 billion with more than 10,000 investment projects. Of this, investment in the manufacturing and processing industry accounts for nearly 75 per cent of the total registered capital and 25 per cent of the total number of projects,” said Hoang.

“In the first six months alone, South Korea invested $1.4 billion, ranking fourth among 84 countries and territories, an increase of 16 per cent on-year,” he added.

Vietnam continues to be a priority partner for South Korea in terms of development aid, receiving about 20 per cent of South Korea’s total assistance. Priority sectors for South Korea's official development assistance (ODA) include urban transportation infrastructure, education and training, the environment, clean energy, and IT.

“The number of investors participating in Vietnam is rapidly increasing. Soon, Vietnam will welcome robust investment flow from South Korea worth tens of billions of USD,” Hoang affirmed.

The development cooperation between Vietnam and South Korea was emphasised during Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh's meeting with 14 CEOs and chairpersons of major South Korean corporations in early July.

Outlining the direction for foreign investment cooperation, Hoang stated that Vietnam will proactively attract and selectively cooperate with foreign investments. The main evaluation criteria will include quality, efficiency, technology, and environmental protection.

He said, “The priority sectors for attraction will be electronics, semiconductors, renewable energy, the digital economy and digital transformation, high-tech agriculture, financial centres, innovation, and research and development. Additionally, clean land funds have been prepared, and a high-quality workforce is ready to welcome investment waves.”

At the same event, Lee Ji-Hyung, director of Economic and Trade Cooperation at the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency, noted that Vietnam is also South Korea's third-largest trade partner, only behind the United States and China.

“Through trade promotions, we expect South Korean businesses to be capable of participating in key infrastructure projects and prioritised sectors,” Ji-Hyung said.