Participants at the Việt Nam- Korea Investment Cooperation Forum 2024, which was held in Hà Nội on Thursday. — Photo baochinhphu.vn

HÀ NỘI — Việt Nam will continue to create favourable conditions for enterprises from South Korea to expand their investments in the country, especially in some prioritised sectors such as hi-tech, biotechnology, electronics, semiconductors, artificial intelligence, renewable energy, biological technology, smart cities, and high-quality human resources.

Deputy Prime Minister Nguyễn Hòa Bình delivered this statement at the Việt Nam- Korea Investment Cooperation Forum 2024 held in Hà Nội on Thursday.

The Deputy PM called on Korean firms to support Vietnamese enterprises in joining their value chains and consider Việt Nam a strategic destination for building research and development centres.

He also encouraged Korean companies to make recommendations and advise the Vietnamese Government, relevant ministries and central sectors on how to remove barriers facing them in doing business and adjust policies to improve the nation's investment and business environment.

During the forum, he said the Vietnamese Government highly appreciated the business activities and contributions of Korean enterprises in Việt Nam, adding that there has been a strong shift from simple processing sectors to high-tech industries, energy projects and finance-banking. These will open up opportunities for the business communities of the two countries to foster their cooperation.

The Vietnamese Government also highly valued South Korea's rich experience in developing small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) as many Korean SMEs have grown strongly to become large and prestigious corporations in the region and internationally, he said.

He said that Vietnamese SMEs have been growing, proactively promoting the application of technology and innovation and participating deeply in the regional value chains, including those of Korean enterprises. These firms also have potential and strengths in many fields such as processing, manufacturing, electricity-electronics, agriculture and agricultural products, food processing, information technology, textiles and footwear.

The presence of businesses from Việt Nam and South Korea at the conference demonstrated their desire to promote bilateral cooperation, contributing to fostering two-way relations between the two countries, Deputy PM Bình remarked.

In the spirit of "harmonious benefits, shared risks", the Vietnamese Government would continue to facilitate investments from foreign businesses including those from South Korea, he concluded.

Deputy Prime Minister Nguyễn Hòa Bình (left) at the forum. — Photo baochinhphu.vn

In his speech at the forum, Chairman of the Korea Federation of SMEs (KBIZ) Kim Ki Mun said successful models from Korea, such as Samsung's smart factory or smart farm, would be valuable lessons for Vietnamese enterprises in improving production capacity and technological innovation.

He also described the event as a good chance for two countries' businesses to share their experiences and seek new cooperation opportunities, adding that Korean enterprises were willing to cooperate in joint ventures, transfer technologies and share production experiences to Vietnamese SMEs.

Nguyễn Văn Thân, chairman of the Vietnam Association of SMEs, agreed, saying that these events would help create long-term and sustainable connection platform between two business communities.

The forum witnessed five memorandums of understanding (MoUs) inked between Vietnamese and Korean business associations and ten others signed among businesses of the two countries. These MoUs are expected to foster bilateral cooperation in several areas such as smart technology, production, product distribution and human resources training.

Currently, South Korea is one of Việt Nam's leading sources of foreign investment. In the first half of this year, Korean investors pumped US$1.4 billion into Việt Nam, an increase of 16 per cent year-on-year, ranking it fourth among 84 countries and territories in terms of investment.

As of June 2024, the Korean investment in Việt Nam reached nearly $87.5 billion with over 10,000 projects, accounting for 25 per cent of the total number of projects and more than 18 per cent of the total foreign investment registered in the country.

Việt Nam expects another strong investment wave from South Korea amounting to tens of billions of US dollars soon, according to the Foreign Investment Agency (FIA) under the Ministry of Planning and Investment.

In terms of official development assistance, South Korea is a big contributor, with Việt Nam accounting for 20 per cent of its total ODA, mainly with loans to fund urban transport infrastructure, education and training, environment, clean energy, and information technology. — VNS