Vietnam and the Republic of Korea (RoK) have issued a joint statement on the state-level visit to the RoK by State President of Vietnam Truong Tan Sang, affirming their intention to boost multifaceted cooperation.

President Truong Tan Sang visited the RoK from Nov. 8-10 at the invitation of RoK President Lee Myung-bak, the statement said.

During his stay in the RoK, President Sang held talks with President Lee Myung Bak and met with Speaker of the National Assembly Park Hee-tae and Prime Minister Kim Hwang-sik.

At their talks, the two Presidents discussed and reach common perception on issues relating to developing and enhancing bilateral cooperation practically, as well as cooperation at regional and international forums.

The two sides declared 2012 as the “ Vietnam – RoK Friendship Year” and decided to organise various activities of exchange and celebrations and to promote symbolic cooperative projects for the following 20 years.

The two sides agreed to exert efforts to fulfil the target of 20 billion USD in bilateral trade ahead of 2015 and cooperate in balancing two-way trade.

The Vietnamese side acknowledged contributions made by RoK businesses to Vietnam ’s socio-economic development and reaffirmed its intention to continue efforts to improve the investment and business climate in Vietnam .

The two sides agreed on the need to continue cooperating in nuclear energy development, contributing to responding to climate change, reaching the target of sustainable, low-carbon growth and promoting economic development in the two countries.

They wanted to enhance bilateral cooperation in use of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes, and acknowledged the necessity to take measures to ensure nuclear non-proliferation, security and safety in line with international practices.

The two sides also acknowledged and welcomed cooperative results reached in the proposal on a joint master study on nuclear electricity development cooperation in Vietnam . The proposal will be used as a basis for following cooperative steps agreed by both countries.

They acknowledged the RoK’s desire to cooperate in developing nuclear power plants in Vietnam , training human resources, studying technology transfer and other related issues.

The Vietnamese side said that development cooperation with the RoK is an important momentum for Vietnam ’s socio-economic development and asked the RoK to continue viewing Vietnam as a key cooperation partner.

The RoK side will continue to cooperate systematically based on the medium- and long-term strategy for the 2011-2015 (the National Partnership Strategy) in accordance with Vietnam ’s socio-economic development.

The two leaders held that the two countries closely cooperated on regional and international forums in the past years and agreed to continue increasing cooperation on international issues.

The two sides welcomed the establishment of the ASEAN-RoK strategic partnership in 2010 and agreed to enhance cooperation to build the ASEAN community and implement the ASEAN Connectivity Master Plan in an effective manner./.