"Many South Korean enterprises investing in Vietnam have created a favorable investment ecosystem"

"Many South Korean enterprises investing in Vietnam have created a favorable investment ecosystem", said President Yoon Suk Yeol, while requesting Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh to facilitate the participation of South Korean businesses in Vietnam's

On the afternoon of July 2, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh met with South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol. The Vietnamese government leader expressed support for South Korea's major policies and close cooperation for the mutual success of both countries.

President Yoon Suk Yeol stated that his country considers Vietnam a top priority partner in implementing regional policies, including the Indo-Pacific strategy and the ASEAN-Korea solidarity initiative.

"Many South Korean enterprises investing in Vietnam have created a favorable investment ecosystem," said Yoon Suk Yeol, while requesting Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh to facilitate the participation of South Korean businesses in Vietnam's key projects, including energy and LNG projects.

At the meeting, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh expressed joy and deep emotion at meeting close and dear friends of the Vietnamese people. He emphasized that these friends have inherited, nurtured, and continually contributed to the Vietnam - Korea relationship over the past 30 years. The Prime Minister thanked them for their heartfelt and sincere remarks, which demonstrated a profound understanding of Vietnam as well as the relationship and cultural foundations between the two countries.

During the meeting, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh conveyed the warm regards of General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong, President To Lam, and other senior Vietnamese leaders to President Yoon Suk Yeol. He expressed his pleasure at making his first official visit to South Korea as Prime Minister.

The Prime Minister thanked for the sincere and respectful reception and congratulated South Korea on achieving significant milestones under President Yoon's leadership, reflecting the vision of a "Global Pivotal Nation."

He highly appreciated President Yoon's decisive efforts in leading South Korea's economy back to positive growth, while continuously introducing policy initiatives that bring many benefits to the South Korean people.

He affirmed that Vietnam supports South Korea's major policies and is ready to continue close cooperation for greater success of both Vietnam and South Korea, for the benefit of their people, and to make responsible contributions to maintaining peace, stability, cooperation, and development in the region and the world.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh informed President Yoon Suk Yeol of the important outcomes achieved during the talks between the two Prime Ministers.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh also suggested that both sides continue to maintain and strengthen high-level exchanges and cooperation mechanisms in diplomacy, defense, and security, in line with the comprehensive strategic partnership.

The two leaders agreed to work closely to deepen economic relations in a substantive and effective manner, thereby contributing to the goal of achieving bilateral trade turnover of $100 billion by 2025 and aiming for $150 billion by 2030.

In this spirit, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh proposed that both sides cooperate to encourage South Korean enterprises to increase investment in semiconductors, digital transformation, green transition, and biotechnology.

The Prime Minister also proposed promoting loans through the Economic Development Promotion Fund (EDPF) worth $2 billion and non-binding loan conditions from the Economic Development Cooperation Fund (EDCF) worth $2 billion to develop strategic infrastructure such as high-speed rail construction.

President Yoon Suk Yeol appreciated Vietnam's outstanding role in coordinating ASEAN-Korea relations and asked for continued support to upgrade this relationship to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership. He also welcomed Vietnam and ASEAN's stance on the South China Sea issue, aiming to contribute to peace, stability, and development in the region.

He affirmed support for training human resources for Vietnam to develop the semiconductor, high-tech, and cultural industries. South Korea will also support Vietnam in organizing the Partnering for Green Growth and the Global Goals 2030 (P4G) Summit in April 2025.

Both sides agreed to expand cooperation in culture, education, and tourism, strengthen local cooperation, and promote people-to-people exchanges to enhance the bond and understanding between the peoples of the two countries.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and his spouse are on a visit to South Korea from June 30 to July 3. This is the first official visit to South Korea by a senior Vietnamese leader since the two countries upgraded their relations to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership in December 2022.

Minh Ha