NA Chairman Trần Thanh Mẫn (right) and Director of the Kimhakmin E-roun Institute for Economic Research Prof. Kim Hak-min. — VNA/VNS Photo

HÀ NỘI — Việt Nam always considers the Republic of Korea (RoK) one of its most important strategic partners across trade, investment, tourism, culture, national defence-security, and sci-tech, National Assembly Chairman Trần Thanh Mẫn told Director of the Kimhakmin E-roun Institute for Economic Research Prof. Kim Hak-min during a reception in Hà Nội on Monday.

Chairman Mẫn pointed to the RoK’s four-decade transformation into a developed economy fueled by sci-tech, innovation and digitalisation, saying that he expects the two nations to expand cooperation and further accelerate Việt Nam’s own innovation drive.

According to him, the RoK now operates around 9,000 projects worth over US$80 billion in Việt Nam. Since the two countries upgraded their ties to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership in 2022, bilateral ties have thrived. In particular, Party General Secretary 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 marked important milestones, underscoring the deepening bond.

He welcomed the delegation’s visit, which includes a working session with the Việt Nam National University - Hà Nội, and stops in Cần Thơ and HCM City to discuss cooperation in innovation, workforce exchanges, smart city development, renewable energy, artificial intelligence and eco-friendly industries.

Those fields sit at the core of Việt Nam’s strategic development targets for 2030 and 2045, he said.

Kim, for his part, shared the RoK’s development experience and laid out orientations to expanding bilateral collaboration in innovation.

Drawing on more than three decades of experience, he voiced hope to contribute expertise to support Việt Nam’s development in the sector. He proposed piloting an innovation linkage model across three regions and setting up six innovation ecosystems, with the goal of establishing Việt Nam as a leading innovation hub regionally and globally. — VNA/VNS