(Dan Tri) – A series of “shuttling” activities with a tight schedule during the Prime Minister’s 4-day visit to Korea has brought about many billion-dollar cooperation projects and many investment and cooperation commitments from “land of kimchi”.
During his first official visit to Korea as head of the Vietnamese Government, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh had a dense, rich and diverse work program with 34 activities with the political and economic sectors. economists, experts, scientists, friendship organizations, non-governmental organizations…
Some days, the Prime Minister’s schedule starts at 8:00 a.m. and ends at 7:00 p.m. with more than 10 non-stop activities, taking advantage of every minute and every second to exchange with Korean partners to promote and seek Cooperation opportunities.
Vietnam – Korea relationship is “at its best”
Since the two countries upgraded their relationship to a comprehensive strategic partnership in 2022, this is the first time a senior Vietnamese leader has officially visited Korea.
The respectful and warm feelings that the leaders of the “land of kimchi” gave to the head of the Government as well as the high-ranking Vietnamese delegation seemed to make the discussions more open and frank.
During the talks with his Korean counterpart Han Duck Soo, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh proposed that Korea continue to open the door for Vietnam’s strong goods to enter the country’s market, such as processed foods and agricultural products. seasonal produce and fruits.
He also encouraged Korean businesses to expand investment in Vietnam, especially in the fields of gas power (LNG), semiconductors, renewable energy, biotechnology, artificial intelligence (AI), At the same time, strengthen the construction of research and development centers in Vietnam.
Another important issue he mentioned was asking Korea to simplify visa procedures and proceed with visa exemption for Vietnamese citizens, contributing to promoting tourism cooperation between the two countries.
Prime Minister Han Duck Soo affirmed that Vietnam is a key partner in implementing foreign policies in the region.
He assessed Vietnam as Korea’s first largest partner in development cooperation, third largest trade partner and Korea’s largest investment partner in ASEAN.
Emphasizing that Korea continues to consider Vietnam an important strategic partner in development cooperation, Prime Minister Han Duck Soo said the country prioritizes supporting Vietnam in training human resources in the industrial sector, through the institute. Non-refundable development assistance from KOICA International Cooperation Agency.
Commenting that the economy is an important pillar in bilateral cooperation, the heads of the two governments affirmed the need to coordinate in implementing measures to soon complete the goal of increasing bilateral trade turnover to 100 billion USD by the end of the year. 2025, aiming for a target of 150 billion USD by 2030.
Meeting with Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, Vietnamese Government leaders promoted loans through the Economic Development Promotion Fund (EDPF) worth 2 billion USD and non-binding loan conditions for loans. borrow the Economic Development Cooperation Fund (EDCF) worth 2 billion USD to develop strategic infrastructure, such as building a high-speed railway.
On the Korean side, President Yoon Suk Yeol said that businesses in this country evaluate Vietnam as a potential investment destination and many Korean businesses investing in Vietnam have created a favorable investment ecosystem. .
He affirmed that he will support the training of human resources for Vietnam to serve the development of the semiconductor and high-tech industries and support Vietnam to develop the cultural industry.
Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh spoke at the meeting with Korean Prime Minister Han Duck Soo (Photo: Doan Bac).
Meeting with National Assembly Chairman Woo Won Shik, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh made a proposal to have policies to support Vietnamese businesses to participate more deeply in the global supply chain of Korean businesses. The Prime Minister also asked Korea to support Vietnam in training human resources in fields such as semiconductors, artificial intelligence…
In addition to having many similarities in history, culture, and priorities in economic development, Mr. Woo Won-Shik said that Vietnam and Korea complement each other in terms of economics and human resources.
Unifying the content of cooperation in politics – diplomacy, trade, investment, science – technology, culture, tourism, labor…, ministries, branches and businesses of the two countries have signed 40 documents cooperation in many fields.
The business trip has deepened political trust, strengthened good personal relationships between senior leaders and the emotional bond between the two peoples, according to Foreign Minister Bui Thanh Son.
“Bearing fruit” from billion-dollar cooperation projects
“Vietnam is ready to cooperate more closely with Korea, promoting the comprehensive strategic partnership to bear fruit” is an important message conveyed by Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh during his official visit to Korea. .
Perhaps that is why, out of the 34 activities of the visit, more than half are economic activities to realize this message.
According to assessments, the visit achieved substantive results in economic, trade and investment cooperation. Vietnam and Korea both affirmed that economic cooperation is one of the most important pillars in cooperation between the two countries.
Up to now, Korea continues to be the No. 1 partner in direct investment, tourism, No. 2 in development cooperation (ODA), No. 3 in labor and trade of Vietnam. Many Korean businesses consider Vietnam an attractive and safe investment location and the top choice.
The two sides agreed to jointly implement specific measures to soon complete the goal of increasing bilateral trade turnover to 100 billion USD by 2025 and aiming for 150 billion USD by 2030 in a balanced and sustainable direction. .
Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh also said that it is necessary to implement large-scale cooperation projects with special preferential conditions and works that symbolize the relationship between the two countries.
He proposed promoting loans through the Economic Development Promotion Fund (EDPF) worth 2 billion USD and non-binding loan conditions for Economic Development Cooperation Fund (EDCF) loans worth 2 billion USD. billion USD to develop strategic infrastructure such as building a high-speed railway.
The visit of the head of the Government also contributes to promoting very specific economic cooperation programs and projects between the two countries. The Prime Minister attended the Vietnam – Korea Business Forum with the participation of hundreds of businesses from both countries; Attended talks with leading Korean economic organizations on energy and finance and received leaders of dozens of leading Korean corporations.
Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and leaders of the two countries witnessed the ceremony of handing over the cooperation memorandum between Hanoi Medical University Hospital and H Plus YangJi hospital of Korea (Photo: Doan Bac).
The Prime Minister also witnessed the signing ceremony of 23 cooperation documents between businesses and localities of the two countries on cooperation in the fields of trade, investment, health, education, semiconductors, energy and strengthening cooperation. cooperation between Vietnamese localities and Korean businesses.
Impressed with Vietnam’s safe, stable investment environment and plenty of room for cooperation, leading Korean corporations announced a series of plans to increase capital and expand investment in Vietnam worth billions of dollars. .
Typically, LG Group plans to disburse an additional 3 billion USD in the next 5 years; Samsung also invested heavily in the next 3 years to make the factory in Vietnam become the group’s largest display module production base globally; Hyosung commits to “laying the next 100 years in Vietnam”, building a Data Center with a total capital of 300 million USD in Ho Chi Minh City; Lotte also said it will consider opening more models similar to Lotte Mall Tay Ho in other localities in Vietnam.
Talking to the press, Lotte Group Chairman Shin Dong Bin expected bright cooperation with Vietnam after listening to Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh’s message calling for investment.
Mr. Shin Dong Bin said that the Group has been investing in Vietnam for 30 years, and currently there are about 20 Lotte businesses investing in Vietnam. He hopes that with this visit of Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, the two sides will promote investment cooperation.
Sharing that the investment in the Lotte Mall Tay Ho facility and putting it into operation in September 2023 has brought results with about 30,000 visitors per day, the Chairman of Lotte Group said he will consider expanding investment in this model. in other localities of Vietnam, not only in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. He hopes that the Vietnamese Government will create favorable conditions for the Group to invest more conveniently.
Samsung Group Chairman Lee Jae Yong considers Vietnam to be Samsung’s second homeland and a really good partner country.
“In the future, I believe Korea and Vietnam will become long-term partners and even bigger partners by combining Korean technology with the hard-working attitude of young Vietnamese talents” , Mr. Lee Jae Yong shared.
Enhance cooperation in labor, culture and tourism
The Vietnam – Korea labor cooperation forum was successfully held in Seoul with the presence of hundreds of workers, and was a highlight of Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh’s official visit to Korea.
Korea began accepting Vietnamese workers in 1992 and has now become one of the key labor markets, attracting many Vietnamese workers with high salaries and good working environment.
In 2023, Vietnam has sent 15,000 workers to Korea to work, the highest in the past 10 years and ranked first among 16 countries sending workers to work in Korea.
According to Minister of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs Dao Ngoc Dung, labor cooperation with Korea has been going on for 32 years, becoming one of the focuses of cooperation between the two countries.
16 localities in Vietnam are having labor cooperation with Korea, and what is worth mentioning, according to Minister Dao Ngoc Dung, there are hundreds of Vietnamese workers returning from Korea, many of whom have become bosses.
That is why, recently, Korean agencies went to Vietnam to review, meet and then decide to reopen for elite Vietnamese workers to return to Korea with the request for training. create higher professional quality and higher skills.
“Most Vietnamese workers, after 4 years of working in Korea, have grown up and become important human resources in large Korean corporations,” Minister Dao Ngoc Dung assessed.
The Minister believes that the labor cooperation relationship between Vietnam and Korea will continue to expand in the direction of training high-quality, highly productive professional occupations that bring better income.
Mr. Lee Woo Young, Chairman of the Korean Human Resources Development Agency, said that Vietnamese workers have made many contributions to the development of both countries.
He cited data over 20 years, the number of Vietnamese workers entering Korea is more than 13,000 people, ranking 2nd among countries sending workers into this country.
Vietnam is in the leading group among countries sending workers to Korea (about 66,000 workers), while the number of Korean workers working in Vietnam also increases rapidly every year (nearly 20,000 people), ranking first. and accounts for over 16% of the total number of foreign workers working in Vietnam.
Good political relations between the two countries have brought specific benefits to people and workers. The clearest evidence is that recently, Korean agencies went to Vietnam to review, inspect and officially agree to allow elite Vietnamese youth to continue to return under a 4-year labor program, with Requires training of higher professional quality and higher skills.
This is the basis for the relationship between Vietnamese and Korean workers to continue to expand in the direction of training high-quality, productive, and higher-income professional occupations.
Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and Minister of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs Dao Ngoc Dung took photos with Vietnamese workers in Korea (Photo: Doan Bac).
For Vietnamese workers working and studying in Korea, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh hopes they will take advantage of the opportunity to improve knowledge, skills and experience; Learn the serious and professional working style and attitude of Korean people.
He hopes that when they return to Vietnam, these workers will become good businessmen, skilled workers, and typical citizens, contributing to the development of their homeland and country as well as good relations. Vietnamese – Korean beauty.
In addition to the main activities at the Forum, Minister Dao Ngoc Dung took advantage of the time to receive leaders of major Korean corporations and leaders of the country’s Ministry of Labor to promote cooperation.
The Minister emphasized that Vietnam is shifting towards training high-quality human resources with the goal of training 50,000 workers in the field of semiconductor chips. In addition, schools in Vietnam are also focusing on training emerging professions.
The Ministers of Labor of Vietnam and Korea at the meeting agreed to continue expanding labor cooperation, in terms of quality, scale and industry, to meet the economic development needs of Korea.
In particular, the two Ministers agreed to drastically implement policies and measures to reform administrative procedures and increase transparency in the process of sending Vietnamese workers to work in Korea, including including the application of information technology or measures to reduce the number of workers whose contracts expire and do not return home…
In addition to the labor sector, the Vietnam-Korea Tourism Promotion and Cultural Cooperation Forum is also evidence that the relationship between Vietnam and Vietnam is further tightening.
The two countries agreed to strengthen cultural, tourism and educational cooperation towards the goal of people-to-people exchanges between the two countries reaching 5 million people. Korea will share experiences and support Vietnam in developing cultural industry.
Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh proposed bringing cultural and tourism cooperation between Vietnam and Korea to a new level, creating value and creating new momentum for the comprehensive strategic partnership.
Sharing with the press, Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Nguyen Van Hung said that the Vietnam Tourism Promotion and Cultural Cooperation Forum in Korea was organized for the first time under the initiative of Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, to learn and exchange experiences from Korean businesses in promoting the development of the cultural industry and entertainment industry in Vietnam, based on successful lessons of Korea.
“Vietnam has access to Korea’s valuable experience in the field of cultural industry. Korea also recognizes the potential, strengths and space that Vietnam has for continued cooperation and cultural development.” , sports, tourism, to build an advanced Vietnamese culture, rich in national identity,” Mr. Hung emphasized.
Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh’s official visit to Korea ended, opening up many opportunities for cooperation between the two countries in many new fields of strategic significance, such as innovation, high technology, and renewable energy. , semiconductors and artificial intelligence (AI), just like the expectation that the Prime Minister shared, that the Vietnam – Korea relationship will “bear fruit”.
Hoai Thu (From Seoul, Korea)