Vietnamese Minister of Foreign Affairs Bùi Thanh Sơn and his Korean counterpart Park Jin hold phone talks on Wednesday. —VNA/VNS Photo

HÀ NỘI — Vietnamese Minister of Foreign Affairs Bùi Thanh Sơn and his Korean counterpart Park Jin held talks over the phone on Wednesday, as the two nations are celebrating the 30th founding anniversary of their diplomatic relations (December 22, 1992-2022).

Expressing their delight at the robust growth of the bilateral ties, the ministers agreed to coordinate with each other to promote the exchange of delegations and meetings at all levels in various flexible forms; as well as activities to celebrate the 30th founding anniversary of diplomatic ties.

They consented to focus on promoting practical cooperation in defence, security and bilateral and multilateral cooperation mechanisms; and implementing effective measures to fulfill the goal of raising bilateral trade to US$100 billion by 2023, and 150 billion by 2030 in a balanced and sustainable manner, in which increasing the volume of Việt Nam's exports to the Republic of Korea (RoK).

It is also necessary to encourage Korean enterprises to invest more in Việt Nam's spearheaded industrial fields and transfer technology to Việt Nam, the diplomats said, adding that the countries will further cooperate closely in science and technology, including the implementation of the second phase of the Việt Nam – Korea Institute of Science and Technology (VKIST) project.

Strengthening collaboration in health, especially in disease prevention, particularly the COVID-19 pandemic, is also important, they noted.

Sơn affirmed his willingness to coordinate with the RoK's Ministry of Foreign Affairs to bring the two countries' strategic cooperative partnership to a new height; and suggested the RoK's Government continue to maintain and increase big loans with preferential conditions for Việt Nam, and offer more support for Vietnamese citizens living, studying and working in the country.

Lauding Việt Nam’s achievements in COVID-19 prevention and control and socio-economic development, Park affirmed that the RoK considers Việt Nam a leading important partner in the region and wishes to develop strongly the bilateral relations in the coming time.

He suggested the Vietnamese Government further create favourable conditions for Korean businesses, especially Korean financial institutions and banks, to expand investment in Việt Nam.

The two ministers agreed to continue to closely cooperate and support each other in solving international and regional issues of mutual concern; and to coordinate to help Việt Nam successfully undertake the role of coordinator for ASEAN-RoK relations for 2021-2024.

They also agreed to maintain peace, stability, security, safety, cooperation and development in the East Sea; continue to support the building of a practical and effective Code of Conduct (COC) that respects the interests of relevant stakeholders in the East Sea in line with international law, especially the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).

Sơn took this occasion to invite the Korean minister to visit Việt Nam at an appropriate time in the future and thanked Park for his invitation to make a trip to the RoK. — VNS