Republic of Korea (RoK)- Vietnam cooperative relations aregrowing rapidly in all fields and considered as a ‘unique,unprecendented and exceptional’ relationship.
The RoK Ambassador to Vietnam, Park Suk-hwan, delivered the remark at aseminar entitled, “Strategic partnership for RoK-Vietnam and RoK-ASEAN:Opportunities and challenges” jointly organised in Hanoi on Dec. 21 bythe Diplomatic Academy of Vietnam (DAV) and the RoK Embassy to mark the18 th anniversary of diplomatic ties between the two nations (Dec. 22).
Park said this year, in spite of the globalfinancial crisis, the flow of RoK investment in Vietnam did not stopincreasing and the RoK has become one of the biggest foreign investorsin the Southeast Asian country.
According to theambassador, two-way trade value is estimated to reach 13 billion USD in2010, a year-on-year increase of 30 percent, targeting 20 billion USD by2015. The RoK is the second-biggest provider of Official DevelopmentAssistance (ODA) to Vietnam .
Sharing thediplomat’s view, DAV President and Ambassador Duong Van Quang said:“With the unusual development tempo of bilateral relations over the past18 years, the RoK has emerged as one of Vietnam ’s leading partnersand Vietnam has also been an important partner of the RoK inSoutheast Asia ”.
The RoK currently ranks secondamong countries and territories investing in Vietnam , with 2,056valid projects capitalised at 22.8 billion USD by the end of September.
“The decision to elevate Vietnam-RoK relations tothe level of ‘strategic cooperative partnership’ in October 2009 is anindispensable result of the development process of the bilateralrelationship in the recent past. It also demonstrates the common resolveof the two countries’ governments and people to further promote anddeepen those relations in the years to come,” the DAV President said.
Quang said during the past years, through mechanismssuch as the ASEAN-RoK Summit, the ASEAN-RoK Foreign Ministers’ Meeting,the ASEAN-RoK Dialogue, the ASEAN+3, the East Asia Summit (EAS) and theASEAN Regional Forum, the two sides have deployed cooperative ties inall spheres, especially politics-security, and the economy, narrowingthe development gap, increasing regional connectivity, enhancingcompetitiveness, and dealing with cultural and social affairs as well asglobal issues.
At the seminar, delegates discussedand put forward a number of solutions to strengthen the Vietnam-RoKstrategic cooperative partnership as well as the ASEAN-RoK strategicpartnership, focusing on identification of prioritised cooperation areasand drafting of mechanisms and institutions to promote dialogue andexchange among youth.
The RoK Ambassador to ASEAN,Yang Bong-ryull, proposed the establishment of a RoK-Mekong MinisterialMeeting mechanism and called on regional countries to take the best ofincentives offered by the ASEAN-Korea Free Trade Agreement (AKFTA) torealise the target of 150 billion USD in two-way trade by 2015./.
The RoK Ambassador to Vietnam, Park Suk-hwan, delivered the remark at aseminar entitled, “Strategic partnership for RoK-Vietnam and RoK-ASEAN:Opportunities and challenges” jointly organised in Hanoi on Dec. 21 bythe Diplomatic Academy of Vietnam (DAV) and the RoK Embassy to mark the18 th anniversary of diplomatic ties between the two nations (Dec. 22).
Park said this year, in spite of the globalfinancial crisis, the flow of RoK investment in Vietnam did not stopincreasing and the RoK has become one of the biggest foreign investorsin the Southeast Asian country.
According to theambassador, two-way trade value is estimated to reach 13 billion USD in2010, a year-on-year increase of 30 percent, targeting 20 billion USD by2015. The RoK is the second-biggest provider of Official DevelopmentAssistance (ODA) to Vietnam .
Sharing thediplomat’s view, DAV President and Ambassador Duong Van Quang said:“With the unusual development tempo of bilateral relations over the past18 years, the RoK has emerged as one of Vietnam ’s leading partnersand Vietnam has also been an important partner of the RoK inSoutheast Asia ”.
The RoK currently ranks secondamong countries and territories investing in Vietnam , with 2,056valid projects capitalised at 22.8 billion USD by the end of September.
“The decision to elevate Vietnam-RoK relations tothe level of ‘strategic cooperative partnership’ in October 2009 is anindispensable result of the development process of the bilateralrelationship in the recent past. It also demonstrates the common resolveof the two countries’ governments and people to further promote anddeepen those relations in the years to come,” the DAV President said.
Quang said during the past years, through mechanismssuch as the ASEAN-RoK Summit, the ASEAN-RoK Foreign Ministers’ Meeting,the ASEAN-RoK Dialogue, the ASEAN+3, the East Asia Summit (EAS) and theASEAN Regional Forum, the two sides have deployed cooperative ties inall spheres, especially politics-security, and the economy, narrowingthe development gap, increasing regional connectivity, enhancingcompetitiveness, and dealing with cultural and social affairs as well asglobal issues.
At the seminar, delegates discussedand put forward a number of solutions to strengthen the Vietnam-RoKstrategic cooperative partnership as well as the ASEAN-RoK strategicpartnership, focusing on identification of prioritised cooperation areasand drafting of mechanisms and institutions to promote dialogue andexchange among youth.
The RoK Ambassador to ASEAN,Yang Bong-ryull, proposed the establishment of a RoK-Mekong MinisterialMeeting mechanism and called on regional countries to take the best ofincentives offered by the ASEAN-Korea Free Trade Agreement (AKFTA) torealise the target of 150 billion USD in two-way trade by 2015./.
