National Assembly Chairman attends Vietnam - Korea Business Forum

On the afternoon of December 13 (local time), within the framework of an official visit to Korea, in Seoul, National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue and Korean National Assembly Chairman Park Byeong Seug attended the Vietnam - Korea Business Forum.

Speaking at the Forum, National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue emphasized that the Vietnamese National Assembly supports upgrading the relationship between Vietnam and the Republic of Korea to a comprehensive strategic partnership. By 2023, the two countries' trade will strive to reach the 100 billion USD mark in an increasingly balanced direction.

In his opening speech, Chairman of the Federation of Korean Industries Huh Chang Soo stated that as a strategic partner of Vietnam, Korea supports Vietnam's vision and development potential. The recent complicated developments of the Covid-19 pandemic globally have caused many difficulties for the economies of Vietnam and Korea and businesses of the two countries. However, the Chairman of the Federation of Korean Industries believes that when Vietnam and Korea are united, the two countries can overcome all difficulties and challenges; at the same time, he emphasized that today's forum will become a lever to strengthen economic cooperation between the two countries and a stepping stone for the Red River miracle in the 21st century.

National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue emphasized that the Vietnamese National Assembly supports upgrading the relationship between Vietnam and South Korea to the level of a comprehensive strategic partnership.

Speaker of the National Assembly of the Republic of Korea Park Byeong Seug affirmed that the visit of Speaker of the National Assembly Vuong Dinh Hue and the high-ranking delegation of the Vietnamese National Assembly is an opportunity to bring the Vietnam-Korea relationship to a new height. Within the framework of the visit, the Governments, ministries, branches and localities of the two countries signed a number of very important cooperation agreements and pacts. The Speaker of the National Assembly of the Republic of Korea said that in the global economic chain and the global commodity exchange chain, the relationship between Vietnam and Korea plays a very important role, contributing to the increasingly deep and sustainable development of the relationship between the two countries.

Speaking at the forum, National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue said that on the basis of the strategic cooperative partnership between the two countries, economic, trade, investment and tourism activities are one of the pillars of bilateral relations. Vietnam is a very important partner of Korea not only bilaterally but also in the ASEAN region. Annual Vietnam-Korea trade accounts for about 50% of the total value of Korea-ASEAN trade.

For Vietnam, Korea is a leading important partner in many fields. Vietnam is a key partner in Korea’s enhanced New Southern Policy. The two countries are also considering upgrading the current “Strategic Cooperative Partnership” relationship to a new level, worthy of the trust, relationship and cooperation potential of the two countries.

The Covid-19 pandemic in the past two years has affected both countries, but with the Vietnam - Korea Free Trade Agreement, the RCEP Agreement that has been signed, the Social Insurance Agreement that will be signed during this official visit and with many new generation free trade agreements that Vietnam has signed with countries such as CPTPP, EVFTA..., National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue believes that there is still a lot of space and room to strongly promote the cooperation results between Vietnam and Korea.

Informing Korean businesses about the situation in Vietnam, the important results in controlling the Covid-19 epidemic and economic recovery in recent times, the National Assembly Chairman affirmed that Vietnam's macroeconomic foundation is still very stable, inflation is the lowest since 2016, and economic indicators in recent months have continuously improved.

Currently, the Vietnamese Government is developing a comprehensive program on Covid-19 prevention and control according to a strategy of flexible adaptation, safety, and effective disease control. In early 2022, Vietnam will pilot the reopening of international flights, including a very important destination: Seoul. Vietnam is also promoting with other countries the recognition of vaccine passports to resume trade and create conditions for businesses to travel and cooperate.

National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue also mentioned a very important content in this visit: the representatives of the two Governments will sign an Agreement on social insurance and mutual assistance in this field to ensure the rights of Vietnamese workers working in Korea and Korean workers working in Vietnam. This is the first Agreement that Vietnam has signed with a foreign country, with content different from the provisions of Vietnamese law. This will create conditions for the two countries to continue to increase economic, trade and investment relations in the coming time.

Recently, many Korean enterprises have chosen Vietnam as a destination, a second homeland because the two countries and two peoples have many similarities in culture and history, sharing many strategic interests in bilateral cooperation as well as cooperation in the region and the world. The National Assembly Chairman stated that the Vietnamese National Assembly affirmed its support for upgrading the relationship between the two countries to a comprehensive strategic partnership, striving to reach the 100 billion USD mark in trade by 2023 in an increasingly balanced direction and by 2030 striving to reach the target of 150 billion USD.

“Although the current epidemic is very difficult, the Vietnamese have a saying: “After the rain, the sky will definitely be bright again.” And our Korean friends also have a saying: “After the rain, the ground will be firmer.” We believe that, in difficult times, as President Park Byeong Seug just said, the more difficult it is for us as brothers and friends, the more we come together. In a world that is changing very quickly and with many unpredictable factors, we think that in that uncertainty, the relationship between Vietnam and Korea will always remain unchanged. We share experiences to support each other in development,” affirmed National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue.

Localities awarded investment registration certificates and cooperation agreements with Korean enterprises.

At the Forum, National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue, National Assembly Chairman Park Byeong Seug and members of the high-ranking delegation of the National Assembly of Vietnam witnessed the leaders of Thai Nguyen, Ha Nam, Bac Ninh, Thai Binh and Hai Duong provinces awarding 15 investment registration certificates and cooperation agreements with Korean enterprises. Along with that, 12 other investment registration certificates and cooperation agreements were signed and awarded online. Among the projects awarded this time, there are very large projects such as Bac Ninh awarding an investment certificate to the Amkor Group's semiconductor equipment material assembly and testing factory project worth 1.6 billion USD or the Agreement on cooperation, support and investment promotion for new projects of Deawoo Group in Vietnam worth up to 2 billion USD.

At the end of the Vietnam - Korea Business Forum, leaders of the Ministry of Planning and Investment, Ministry of Industry and Trade, and Ministry of Finance answered and clarified directly and online questions from Korean investors who are looking to invest in Vietnam in the fields of insurance, clean energy, and electric cars. These are all fields in which Vietnam encourages foreign investment, especially from corporations from Korea.

Leaders of the ministries suggested that Korean enterprises should invest in the fields of finance and banking, becoming strategic shareholders of Vietnamese State-owned enterprises in the equitization process that the Vietnamese Government is implementing. In particular, Korean enterprises should take advantage of the RCEP Free Trade Agreement between 10 ASEAN countries and 5 partner countries including Japan, Korea, China, Australia and New Zealand, which will officially take effect from January 1, 2022./.