Le Thanh Hai, Politburo member and Secretary of Ho Chi Minh City Party Committee hosted a reception for Speaker of the National Assembly of the Republic of Korea (RoK) Chung Ui-hwa on March 20.

Ho Chi Minh City has long cemented a close relationship with a number of localities in the RoK, particularly the 20-year ties with Busan city, Hai said.

He noted that the RoK is one of the biggest foreign investors in his city and more opportunities for cooperation are to open up as the two countries have concluded negotiations on the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement, paving the way for official signing.

For his part, Chung Ui-hwa shared his impression on the rapid growth of Vietnam’s southern economic hub in recent years and agreed on enhancing cooperation between the RoK with HCM City, especially in sectors of common interest.

The same day, Chung met with students from the Ho Chi Minh University of Social Sciences and Humanities, the top provider of training courses in Korean in Vietnam, graduating over 2,000 students in the past two decades.-VNA