The RoK's Consul General in Da Nang Ahn Min-sik addresses the ceremony on November 6 (Photo: VNA) Da Nang (VNA) - TheConsulate General of the Republic of Korea (RoK) was officially opened incentral Da Nang city on November 6.
Consul General Ahn Min-sik said that among the tenASEAN nations, Vietnam is the only one where his country has set up threediplomatic agencies, which shows its expectations of Vietnam in its NewSouthern Policy.
RoK enterprises previously did business and conductedinvestments primarily in the northern and southern regions, but more and more RoKpeople and companies have paid attention to the central region in recent years,he noted.
The number of RoK people visiting the centralregion, including Da Nang, doubled each year between 2015 and 2018, and stoodat about 1.8 million last year, or nearly half of the total.
The Consulate General will give top priority toexpanding and strengthening the two countries’ friendship in the centralregion, the diplomat added.
Addressing the opening ceremony, Vice Chairmanof the Da Nang People’s Committee Ho Ky Minh said the city has establishedcooperative ties with five RoK localities: Changwon, Daegu, Hwaseong, Seoul,and Gyeongsang.
Prior to the COVID-19 outbreak, investment,trade, and tourism between Da Nang and RoK organisations and businesses haddeveloped strongly, he said, with the RoK having invested in 232 projects inthe city, and there were three direct air routes linking its major localitieswith Da Nang.
Minh stressed that the Consulate General will bea bridge in further promoting the friendship, investment, trade, tourism, andcultural and scientific cooperation between RoK localities and partners and thecentral Vietnamese localities it covers, thereby contributing to the countries’strategic cooperative partnership.
Da Nang authorities will create the bestconditions possible for the Consulate General to operate effectively and inline with international practices.
Also at the ceremony, RoK Ambassador ParkNoh-wan thanked the Vietnamese Government and authorities in Da Nang forfacilitating the opening of the Consulate General, noting that this city is oneof the favourite destinations of RoK people.
Meanwhile, Deputy Foreign Minister To Anh Dungsaid that together with the Embassy in Hanoi and the Consulate General in HCM City,the RoK’s Consulate General in Da Nang will substantially boost the twocountries’ relations. It will help introduce the city and also the nearby provincesof Quang Nam, Quang Ngai, and Thua Thien-Hue to the RoK people, to help lift bilateralties to a new level.
Representatives from RoK enterprises presentedaid worth over 470 million VND (20,400 USD) to Thua Thien-Hue and Quang Ngaiprovinces at the ceremony, to help them address the consequences of recentstorms and flooding./.
VNA
