Việt Nam’s President Trần Đại Quang (right) received Park Won-soon, Special Envoy of the Republic of Korea’s President Moon Jae-in, in the capital city of Hà Nội on Thursday. — VNA/VNS Photo Nhan Sáng

HÀ NỘI — Việt Nam attaches importance to and wishes to bolster ties with the Republic of Korea (RoK), for the sake of the two people, and peace, stability, development and prosperity, President Trần Đại Quang has said.

He made the remarks at his reception for Park Won-soon, Special Envoy of the RoK’s President Moon Jae-in in Hà Nội on Thursday.

President Quang hailed the Special Envoy’s visit, made soon after President Moon Jae-in took office, as showing the President’s respect for the two countries’ partnership.

He said he is delighted to see the two countries’ robust co-operation across sectors over the past 25 years, especially after relations were upgraded to a strategic co-operative partnership in 2009.

High-level meetings between ministries and localities have been maintained, while economic co-operation and trade have been growing fast, the President noted.

The RoK has become one of Việt Nam’s top partners, as evidenced by its first position in terms of foreign direct investment, second in official development assistance (ODA) and tourism, and third in trade.

The President suggested the two countries increase and diversify high-level meetings, broaden co-operative fields, optimise exchange and co-operative mechanisms, boost collaboration in diplomacy, security and defence, and develop trade to hit the target of US$70 billion by 2020.

He expected that the RoK will continue prioritising Việt Nam in development co-operation, ODA and soft loan provision, technology transfer, and assistance for the auxiliary industry development.

He took the occasion to invite President Moon Jae-in to attend the APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting 2017 in the central city of Đà Nẵng in November and to make an official visit to Việt Nam.

For his part, Special Envoy Park Won-soon confirmed that the RoK wants ties with Việt Nam to advance in the context of the two countries celebrating the 25th anniversary of their diplomatic ties.

Park noted that this is the first time the RoK President has sent a Special Envoy to ASEAN, a move that shows the RoK Government’s policy of treasuring ASEAN and Việt Nam.

The RoK stands ready to work with Việt Nam to achieve productive diplomatic, economic, commercial, investment ties and people-to-people exchange, he said, adding that he will make proposals on policies for the Vietnamese community in the RoK to the President.

The Special Envoy informed that President Moon Jae-in will attend the APEC High-level Week 2017 in Đà Nẵng in November and wishes to pay an official visit to Việt Nam.

Important trade partner

Party General Secretary Nguyễn Phú Trọng hailed the RoK as one of Việt Nam’s most important economic and trade partners in his meeting with Park Won-soon. 

He called for enhanced co-operation via Party, Government, legislature, and locality channels to increase political trust and economic ties. 

The Party leader suggested strengthening co-ordination at international multilateral forums for the sake of the two peoples as well as peace, stability and development in the region and the world. 

Park Won-soon described the political trust between Việt Nam and the RoK as a firm foundation for the two nations to forge ahead with co-operation. 

He recognised the recent strong development of the bilateral relations in various fields, especially in economics, trade, investment, culture and tourism. The RoK will continue sharing Việt Nam’s viewpoints on regional and international matters of mutual concerns, he added.

Việt Nam’s Prime Minister Nguyễn Xuân Phúc (right) on Thursday held a meeting with the visiting Special Envoy of the RoK’s President Park Won-soon in Hà Nội. — VNA/VNS Photo Thống Nhất

Call for investment

The same day, Prime Minister Nguyễn Xuân Phúc called on the RoK to invest more in renewable energy, infrastructure, high technology, and processing industry in Việt Nam, during his reception for Special Envoy Park Won-soon.

The PM reiterated Việt Nam’s determination to effectively implement the free trade agreement with the RoK to achieve the bilateral trade target by 2020. 

He proposed the RoK support Việt Nam to develop the auxiliary industry, sign a credit framework agreement for the 2016-20 period, and help Việt Nam access credits from the International Development Association (IDA) after 2017.
Việt Nam hopes to expand the economic-trade relations with the RoK, he said, adding that the Vietnamese Government will create all possible conditions for Korean enterprises to do business in the country.

The Special Envoy confirmed that the RoK will spare no effort to increase bilateral trade, and expressed his belief that more Korean businesses will come to Việt Nam to develop the latter’s auxiliary industry. 

Việt Nam and the RoK established a strategic partnership in 2009. The RoK is currently the biggest foreign direct investor in Việt Nam and the second largest trade partner. — VNS