Vietnamese Ambassador to the RoK Nguyen Vu Tung
The visit will be made at the invitation of the Korean Foreign Minister Chung Eui-yong and the Secretary General of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Mathias Cormann.
Talking about the visit, the Vietnamese Ambassador to the RoK said that this is the first visit of the Vietnamese Foreign Minister to the RoK in the past 5 years. This is also the first visit of Minister Bui Thanh Son as the head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Vietnam. This is also the first high-ranking Vietnamese delegation to visit the RoK this year, opening the 30th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two countries (1992-2022).
According to the Ambassador, the trip continues to show the determination to keep momentum and strengthen bilateral relations. Minister Bui Thanh Son will have working meetings with Korean officials, focus on discussing and agreeing on action programs for the anniversary year, as well as clarifying orientations for bilateral relations in the future, which have been agreed by the senior leaders of the two countries. Priority cooperation areas include political diplomacy, national defense and security, and socio-economic issues for peace, stability, cooperation and development of the two countries and the two regions of Southeast Asia and Northeast Asia, as well as other regions.
The visit will contribute to strongly promoting bilateral relations, in line with the common orientation between the two countries of elevating the relationship framework to a comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership.
Minister Bui Thanh Son will attend the OECD Southeast Asia Program, chaired by the RoK, as Co-Chair of the program for the period 2022-2025. Additionally, representing Vietnam in the role of ASEAN - RoK cooperation coordinator in the period of 2020 - 2023, Minister Bui Thanh Son will also discuss with his Korean partners this topic.
Reviewing major achievements in the Vietnam – RoK relationship over the past time as well as the potential for bilateral cooperation, the Ambassador said that amid the COVID-19 pandemic, high-level delegation exchanges still take place. In addition to phone calls and online exchanges, the two sides also held high-level visits.
Furthermore, key areas of bilateral relations continue to develop. According to data by the end of November 2021, two-way trade reached USD70.38 billion, up 20% compared to 2020. In 2021, the RoK became the second largest direct investor in Vietnam with total investment in the year reaching USD7.4 billion, up 85% compared to 2020. The RoK continues to be the second largest development aid donor to Vietnam with a commitment of USD1.5 billion in the 2016-2020 period. Meanwhile, the Vietnamese community in the RoK (estimated at over 240,000 people) and the Korean community in Vietnam (about 200,000 people) continue to overcome difficulties, stabilize their lives, and increase resilience in the context of a pandemic.
He also noted the increasingly close coordination between the two countries in multilateral forums, including ASEAN and regional multilateral mechanisms led by ASEAN, the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum, the Asia-Europe Cooperation Forum (ASEM), the Asia-Pacific Parliamentary Forum as well as in multilateral trade mechanisms such as the ASEAN-RoK Free Trade Agreement, the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) and even in sub-regional mechanisms.
In particular, the two countries have effectively supported each other as necessary. The Korean government and people have donated over 1.4 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine to Vietnam. Korean businesses and friendship organizations have contributed more than USD20 million to Vietnam's Vaccine Fund, as well as many in-kind aid donations to help Vietnam fight the pandemic. Meanwhile, Vietnamese enterprises have timely ensured the supply of up to 30% of urea demand for the Korean market and localities of Vietnam have actively helped Korean enterprises to ensure production and business during the anti-pandemic period.
The potential for bilateral cooperation is still great, according to the Ambassador. The two sides set a goal of striving to increase bilateral trade turnover to USD100 billion in 2023 and USD150 billion in 2030./.