Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City People’s Committee Nguyen Thanh Phong (R) welcomes Governor of Gyeongsangbuk province Lee Cheol-woo on June 25 (Photo: VNA)
HCM City (VNA) – Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City People’s Committee Nguyen Thanh Phong received Governor of the Republic of Korea (RoK)’s Gyeongsangbuk province Lee Cheol-woo on June 25 to discuss ways to promote cooperation between the two localities.
The host said Gyeongsangbuk province has sent many delegations to HCM City, showing its special attention to the Vietnamese city.
Bilateral relations are flourishing, especially in tourism – a strength of both sides, he said, noting that his city is ready to take part in the Gyeongsangbuk world cultural festival this October.
Highly valuing Gyeongsangbuk’s economic potential, Phong affirmed that HCM City wishes to enhance partnerships in trade, investment and tourism with the RoK province.
He expressed his hope that when a direct air route between HCM City and Daegu city of the province is opened, bilateral cooperation will develop even more extensively in the future.
Highlighting Gyeongsangbuk’s development situation, Lee said his province is home to a number of industrial parks with big businesses. It is also where the new-style rural area building, which is being implemented in Vietnam, was initiated.
The official added that as a famous tourist destination of the RoK, Gyeongsangbuk is ready to accept the invitation to participate in the annual International Travel Expo in HCM City this September.
The Governor also voiced his delight at the growth of the two localities’ relations, asking HCM City authorities to continue creating optimal conditions for activities of Gyeongsangbuk companies.
By the end of May, the RoK had invested nearly 5 billion USD in 1,600 projects in HCM City, ranking third among the more than 100 countries and territories investing here.
In 2018, bilateral trade reached 4.7 billion USD. Particularly, 934,000 RoK tourists came to HCM City last year, making this country the second biggest source of foreign visitors to the city.-VNA
VNA