At the MoU signing ceremony (Photo: VNA) The conference, chaired by Finance MinisterHo Duc Phoc, attracted the participation of representatives from more than 300 companies of the two countries.
Phoc said that the participation of a largenumber of businesses and investors is clear evidence of the VietnameseGovernment’s efforts to create a favourable and attractive business and investmentenvironment for foreign businesses and investors, especially those from the RoK.
Vietnam is the RoK’s third largest tradepartner, with two-way trade hitting nearly 80 billion USD last year. The RoKranks first among foreign investors in Vietnam, with9,863 investment projects totalling around 90 billion USD and over 8,000companies operating in the Southeast Asian nation.
Last year, Vietnam also welcomed more than3.5 million Korean holiday-makers, and there are currently 180,000 Koreansliving in the country.
The minister said he believes the goal ofraising two-way trade to 150 billion USD in a balanced and sustainabledirection by 2030 is reachable.
He highlighted the rapid development of Vietnam's stock market, which had a capitalisation value of nearly 270 billion USD, equivalent to nearly 63% of the GDP. He cited Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh's pledge at a conference on the stock market development in late February to develop a transparent, safe, effective and sustainable stock market and ensure legitimate rights and interests of stakeholders.
Phoc expressed his belief that this conferencewill open up greater opportunities for cooperation and prosperous developmentbetween the two countries in general and their businesses and investors inparticular, especially in the field of financial market.
The Ministry of Finance is committed toaccompanying and creating favourable conditions for partners, businesses andinvestors of the two countries to seek investment and cooperation opportunitiesthat bring the highest efficiency, and welcomes Korean businesses and investorsto invest more and expand their investment scale in Vietnam, he added.
Kim Yong-Jae, Standing Commissioner of theKorean Financial Services Commission (FSC), said that in the financial sector,Vietnam ranks second in the world in terms of the presence of RoK financialinstitutions, with 46 institutions in the fields of banking, insurance, andsecurities.
He shared that many large Korean corporationsand businesses such as Samsung, LG, and Hyundai see Vietnam's growth potentialand have reaped rewards after investing early in the Vietnamese market. Koreanfinancial institutions are also investing in Vietnam in many different formssuch as establishing legal entities, and mergers and acquisitions.
According to Kim, the Korean economy hasentered a mature stage, with population aging occurring strongly, which makesinvesting in promising Vietnamese businesses a great alternative to overcome thedecline in investment yields of Korean companies and financial institutions.
At the same time, this investment processwill become a solid stepping stone to further strengthen the driving force forVietnam's economic growth, he stressed.
Within the framework of the conference, theVietnamese Ministry of Finance also organised a dialogue with businesses toinform them about Vietnam’s important macro-economic policies and mechanisms toattract investment into the Vietnamese capital market, green finance and theprocess of upgrading Vietnam's stock market from a frontier status to an emergingone.
On this occasion, SSC Chairperson Vu ThiChan Phuong and Kim Yong-Jae, who represents the Korea Financial InvestmentAssociation, signed a memorandum of understanding on cooperation consultationsand technical assistance./.
VNA
