General Secretary To Lam meets with South Korean Prime Minister Kim Min Seok
Meeting with Prime Minister Kim Min Seok, General Secretary To Lam asked South Korea to support capacity building for Vietnamese enterprises to participate more deeply in the global supply chain of Korean enterprises.
According to the special correspondent of VNA, following the activities within the framework of the State visit to Korea, on the afternoon of August 11, in Seoul, General Secretary To Lam met with the host country's Prime Minister Kim Min Seok.
At the meeting, Prime Minister Kim Min Seok expressed his joy and honor to welcome and talk with General Secretary To Lam, the first State Guest of the new Korean government, thereby affirming the special importance of the relationship between the two countries as well as creating a foundation for close cooperation in the coming time.
Prime Minister Kim Min Seok affirmed that General Secretary To Lam's visit marked a new historical milestone in the relationship between the two countries, adding momentum to strongly promote the Korea-Vietnam Comprehensive Strategic Partnership.
General Secretary To Lam thanked the leaders and people of the Republic of Korea for their warm and thoughtful welcome; congratulated Mr. Kim Min Seok on his high confidence in being elected as the Prime Minister of the Republic of Korea; and firmly believed that, with the Prime Minister's rich experience and enthusiasm, the Government of the Republic of Korea will continue to achieve even greater achievements.
General Secretary To Lam informed about the good results of the high-level talks with President Lee Jae Myung; the two sides reached a common understanding on major directions and measures to comprehensively promote and deepen the Vietnam-Korea relationship; affirmed that Vietnam always attaches importance to the cooperative relationship with Korea and wishes to work with Korea to further deepen the Vietnam-Korea Comprehensive Strategic Partnership.
General Secretary To Lam and Prime Minister Kim Min Seok highly appreciated the positive developments in the bilateral relationship through regular exchanges of delegations at all levels, especially at the high level; the two countries have become reliable partners, closely cooperating at the strategic level, in which economic cooperation is always a bright spot in the bilateral relationship; in particular, Korea continues to maintain its number one position in direct investment (reaching 87 billion USD) and number 2 in official development assistance (ODA, with 4 billion USD in the 2025-2030 period) and number 3 in trade (reaching 81.5 billion USD).
The two leaders shared their views on continuing to promote more substantial, effective and comprehensive economic cooperation, creating a strong bond of interests between the two countries; closely coordinating to effectively implement items in the "Action Plan to achieve the target of bilateral trade turnover reaching 150 billion USD in a more balanced direction by 2030."
General Secretary To Lam suggested that Korea step up support for Vietnamese enterprises to access Korean e-commerce channels; facilitate trade and open markets for each other's goods; support capacity building for Vietnamese enterprises to participate more deeply in the global supply chain of Korean enterprises; encourage Korean enterprises to expand their investment scale in Vietnam, especially in the fields of infrastructure development, production of high-tech electronic equipment, semiconductors, artificial intelligence (AI), renewable energy, smart cities, along with the construction of specialized industrial production complexes along the value chain, linking investment with technology transfer and human resource training to support Vietnam in building an independent, self-reliant and integrated economy.
Prime Minister Kim Min Seok expressed his hope that Vietnam would pay attention to and create conditions for Korean enterprises to participate in Vietnam's key projects such as cooperation in developing nuclear power with advanced Korean technology, energy infrastructure projects, digital infrastructure, climate change adaptation infrastructure and high-speed railways; and affirmed that Korea would continue to further expand the scale of non-refundable aid, especially in the fields of research and development (R&D) and innovation.
General Secretary To Lam said that science, technology, innovation, digital transformation and human resource training need to become new pillars of bilateral relations; he hoped that the two sides would coordinate to develop strategic technology industries, strengthen cooperation in the fields of telecommunications, information technology, e-government, biotechnology, climate technology, nanotechnology, clean energy and renewable energy; promote cooperation in the field of digital transformation such as artificial intelligence, and build digital innovation policies.
General Secretary To Lam suggested that both sides make efforts to consolidate the foundation of people's trust, creating a close and lasting connection between the two countries and peoples; welcomed the two sides' signing of the extension of the Memorandum of Understanding on the Foreign Workers Permit Program (EPS) between Vietnam and Korea; and suggested that Korea continue to increase quotas and expand the industries receiving workers; strengthen educational cooperation, and asked Korea to support the training of high-quality human resources such as semiconductors, electric vehicles, biotechnology, shipbuilding industry, and artificial intelligence.
Prime Minister Kim Min Seok affirmed that he will continue to pay attention to cooperation with Vietnam to enhance training of high-quality human resources to serve the economic development of the two countries in the coming time.
On this occasion, General Secretary To Lam thanked and requested the Korean Government to continue to care for and support the Vietnamese community in Korea so that they can feel secure living, studying and working in Korea; at the same time, continue to consider visa simplification, moving towards visa exemption for Vietnamese citizens entering Korea, thereby contributing to strengthening people-to-people exchange cooperation between the two countries and promoting bilateral tourism cooperation to develop even more strongly in the coming time.
Prime Minister Kim Min Seok affirmed that the Korean Government is actively considering simplifying visa procedures for Vietnamese citizens and continuing to strengthen measures to support foreign brides, including Vietnamese brides, to maintain a stable life in Korea.