Republic of Korea (RoK)- Vietnam cooperative relations are growing 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 a seminar entitled, “Strategic partnership for RoK-Vietnam and RoK-ASEAN: Opportunities and challenges” jointly organised in Hanoi on Dec. 21 by the Diplomatic Academy of Vietnam (DAV) and the RoK Embassy to mark the 18 th anniversary of diplomatic ties between the two nations (Dec. 22).
Park said this year, in spite of the global financial crisis, the flow of RoK investment in Vietnam did not stop increasing and the RoK has become one of the biggest foreign investors in the Southeast Asian country.
According to the ambassador, two-way trade value is estimated to reach 13 billion USD in 2010, a year-on-year increase of 30 percent, targeting 20 billion USD by 2015. The RoK is the second-biggest provider of Official Development Assistance (ODA) to Vietnam .
Sharing the diplomat’s view, DAV President and Ambassador Duong Van Quang said: “With the unusual development tempo of bilateral relations over the past 18 years, the RoK has emerged as one of Vietnam ’s leading partners and Vietnam has also been an important partner of the RoK in Southeast Asia ”.
The RoK currently ranks second among countries and territories investing in Vietnam , with 2,056 valid projects capitalised at 22.8 billion USD by the end of September.
“The decision to elevate Vietnam-RoK relations to the level of ‘strategic cooperative partnership’ in October 2009 is an indispensable result of the development process of the bilateral relationship in the recent past. It also demonstrates the common resolve of the two countries’ governments and people to further promote and deepen those relations in the years to come,” the DAV President said.
Quang said during the past years, through mechanisms such as the ASEAN-RoK Summit, the ASEAN-RoK Foreign Ministers’ Meeting, the ASEAN-RoK Dialogue, the ASEAN+3, the East Asia Summit (EAS) and the ASEAN Regional Forum, the two sides have deployed cooperative ties in all spheres, especially politics-security, and the economy, narrowing the development gap, increasing regional connectivity, enhancing competitiveness, and dealing with cultural and social affairs as well as global issues.
At the seminar, delegates discussed and put forward a number of solutions to strengthen the Vietnam-RoK strategic cooperative partnership as well as the ASEAN-RoK strategic partnership, focusing on identification of prioritised cooperation areas and drafting of mechanisms and institutions to promote dialogue and exchange among youth.
The RoK Ambassador to ASEAN, Yang Bong-ryull, proposed the establishment of a RoK-Mekong Ministerial Meeting mechanism and called on regional countries to take the best of incentives offered by the ASEAN-Korea Free Trade Agreement (AKFTA) to realise the target of 150 billion USD in two-way trade by 2015./.
The RoK Ambassador to Vietnam, Park Suk-hwan, delivered the remark at a seminar entitled, “Strategic partnership for RoK-Vietnam and RoK-ASEAN: Opportunities and challenges” jointly organised in Hanoi on Dec. 21 by the Diplomatic Academy of Vietnam (DAV) and the RoK Embassy to mark the 18 th anniversary of diplomatic ties between the two nations (Dec. 22).
Park said this year, in spite of the global financial crisis, the flow of RoK investment in Vietnam did not stop increasing and the RoK has become one of the biggest foreign investors in the Southeast Asian country.
According to the ambassador, two-way trade value is estimated to reach 13 billion USD in 2010, a year-on-year increase of 30 percent, targeting 20 billion USD by 2015. The RoK is the second-biggest provider of Official Development Assistance (ODA) to Vietnam .
Sharing the diplomat’s view, DAV President and Ambassador Duong Van Quang said: “With the unusual development tempo of bilateral relations over the past 18 years, the RoK has emerged as one of Vietnam ’s leading partners and Vietnam has also been an important partner of the RoK in Southeast Asia ”.
The RoK currently ranks second among countries and territories investing in Vietnam , with 2,056 valid projects capitalised at 22.8 billion USD by the end of September.
“The decision to elevate Vietnam-RoK relations to the level of ‘strategic cooperative partnership’ in October 2009 is an indispensable result of the development process of the bilateral relationship in the recent past. It also demonstrates the common resolve of the two countries’ governments and people to further promote and deepen those relations in the years to come,” the DAV President said.
Quang said during the past years, through mechanisms such as the ASEAN-RoK Summit, the ASEAN-RoK Foreign Ministers’ Meeting, the ASEAN-RoK Dialogue, the ASEAN+3, the East Asia Summit (EAS) and the ASEAN Regional Forum, the two sides have deployed cooperative ties in all spheres, especially politics-security, and the economy, narrowing the development gap, increasing regional connectivity, enhancing competitiveness, and dealing with cultural and social affairs as well as global issues.
At the seminar, delegates discussed and put forward a number of solutions to strengthen the Vietnam-RoK strategic cooperative partnership as well as the ASEAN-RoK strategic partnership, focusing on identification of prioritised cooperation areas and drafting of mechanisms and institutions to promote dialogue and exchange among youth.
The RoK Ambassador to ASEAN, Yang Bong-ryull, proposed the establishment of a RoK-Mekong Ministerial Meeting mechanism and called on regional countries to take the best of incentives offered by the ASEAN-Korea Free Trade Agreement (AKFTA) to realise the target of 150 billion USD in two-way trade by 2015./.
