Prime Minister Lê Minh Hưng (right) and RoK Ambassador to Việt Nam Choi Young-sam at their meeting on Monday. — VNA/VNS Photo

HÀ NỘI — Prime Minister Lê Minh Hưng called on Việt Nam and the Republic of Korea (RoK) to deepen their comprehensive cooperation and work towards achieving bilateral trade of US$100 billion during a reception on Monday for outgoing RoK Ambassador to Việt Nam Choi Young-sam.

The PM congratulated Choi on successfully completing his term in Việt Nam and highly appreciated the ambassador’s positive contributions to the Việt Nam-RoK Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, which is becoming increasingly profound, effective, and beneficial to the people of both countries.

Reviewing the major achievements during Choi's tenure, PM Hưng highlighted the successful organisation of numerous high-level and all-level delegation exchanges, notably General Secretary of the Communist Party of Việt Nam Central Committee Tô Lâm's state visit to the RoK in August 2025 and RoK President Lee Jae Myung's state visit to Việt Nam in April 2026. He also noted expanding cooperation in defence, security, locality-to-locality ties and people-to-people exchanges, which have helped strengthen political trust between the two countries.

Expressing confidence that the solid foundation of bilateral relations would enable further expansion of cooperation, the Prime Minister proposed that the two sides continue promoting all-level exchanges, broaden defence and security cooperation, and strive to achieve the bilateral trade target of $100 billion in 2026 and $150 billion by 2030 in a balanced and sustainable manner.

He also called for encouraging more Korean enterprises to launch new investment projects and expand existing operations in Việt Nam, particularly in high-tech electronics manufacturing, semiconductors, renewable energy, urban railways and smart cities.

PM Hưng affirmed that the Vietnamese Government will continue creating favourable conditions for foreign businesses, including those from the RoK, to invest and operate in Việt Nam in a stable and long-term manner.

The Government leader also proposed strengthening cultural cooperation and supporting Việt Nam's cultural industries, while expanding people-to-people exchanges through higher quotas and broader recruitment of Vietnamese workers in sectors where the RoK has demand, including information technology, services, nursing and shipbuilding. He also called for stronger cooperation between the two countries' localities to further promote economic cooperation and people-to-people exchanges.

For his part, Choi expressed his agreement with the Prime Minister's proposals, affirming that the RoK attaches great importance to and wishes to further strengthen bilateral relations, particularly in emerging fields where the RoK boasts strengths and Việt Nam has growing demand, such as science and technology, semiconductors, renewable energy, LNG-fired power, artificial intelligence and infrastructure. He stressed that his country remains a reliable partner, supporting Việt Nam in achieving its development goals through 2030 and toward 2045.

The ambassador expressed his hope that Việt Nam will continue paying attention to, supporting and creating favourable conditions for Korean businesses and citizens to invest, work and live in the country over the long term.

On the occasion, Choi thanked the leaders of the Party, State, Government and relevant Vietnamese ministries and agencies for their support throughout his tenure, affirming that he would continue making every effort to further strengthen bilateral cooperation and contribute to the substantive, comprehensive and robust development of the Việt Nam–RoK Comprehensive Strategic Partnership. — VNA/VNS