Korea has invested 74.7 billion USD in Vietnam

On the afternoon of March 25, on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Vietnam and the Republic of Korea, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Thanh Hoa province and the Embassy of the Republic of Korea in Vietnam jointly organized the conference “Meeting with South Korea”. year 2022″. The conference took place in Thanh Hoa.

At the conference, Mr. Nguyen Minh Vu – Permanent Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs – said that Korea continues to hold its position as the largest investor in Vietnam with 9,223 valid projects. Total registered capital of 74.7 billion USD accumulated until the end of December 2021.

In addition, Korea is also a partner of ODA, tourism, labor the second largest and third largest trading partner with bilateral trade turnover reaching 78 billion USD in 2021.

According to Deputy Minister Nguyen Minh Vu, Vietnam has changed from merely attracting FDI, to cooperating with foreign investors in the spirit of equality and mutual development, mutual benefit, and social responsibility. , workers, environmental protection.

On that basis, Vietnam has selected and prioritized attracting projects in the fields of high technology, innovation, research and development; there is diffusion, commitment to cooperation, and facilitation of enterprise Vietnam participates in the value chain; promote the digital economy and actively contribute to the sustainable socio-economic development of Vietnam.

Deputy Minister Nguyen Minh Vu said that the cooperation between the two countries in recent years has achieved many practical results in various fields, in which economic cooperation has always been an important pillar and a bright spot in the cooperation between the two countries. .

“I am confident that the two sides will continue to improve the quality of economic, trade and investment cooperation, strive to increase bilateral trade turnover to 100 billion USD by 2023 and work towards the goal of 150 billion USD. in 2030”.

Up to now, the localities of Vietnam – Korea have signed about 80 memorandums of cooperation in the fields of trade, investment, people-to-people exchange, agriculture, education – training, labor…

The Permanent Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs also hoped that after this conference, many localities and businesses would find suitable partners, and many cooperation ideas would be perfected for practical and effective implementation.

“In the spirit of “building economic diplomacy with people, localities and businesses as the service center”, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will continue to promote its role as a bridge to support provinces and cities in the whole country. The country connects with international partners,” said Mr. Nguyen Minh Vu.

At the conference, Mr. Park Noh-wan, Ambassador of the Republic of Korea to Vietnam, said that even in the context of the epidemic, Korea and Vietnam still maintain a solid growth momentum and trade turnover in 2021. reached 80.7 billion USD – the highest level in history. The scale of Korea’s foreign investment in Vietnam still ranks first, reaching 74.7 billion USD. Korea also ranked first in terms of total new investment capital in 2021.

The Korean Ambassador said that Vietnam possesses abundant human resources, whose strength is building a free trade zone with key economic regions through the signing of RCEP, CPTPP, and VN-EU agreements. FTAs.

“Vietnam needs to make good use of these opportunities and make more efforts to improve the quality of foreign investment. I know that many local leaders are currently adjusting to the policy direction of the central government. I want to emphasize that developing human resources and nurturing supporting industries is extremely important. that Korean businesses operating in the high-tech field want to invest in Vietnam,” emphasized Mr. Park Noh-wan.

Also at the conference, the delegates of Vietnam – Korea and Thanh Hoa province discussed and gave many ideas to further promote cooperation between the two sides in many fields from investment, economy, culture. , labor, employment…, in the spirit of friendship, cooperation and development.

Speaking at the conference, Mr. Do Trong Hung, Secretary of Thanh Hoa Provincial Party Committee assessed that the cooperation relationship between Thanh Hoa province and Korean localities, agencies, organizations and businesses is constantly developing. Korea is one of the important partners in many fields of Thanh Hoa province.

Thanh Hoa currently has 37 projects of Korean investors, with a total registered capital of about 1.6 billion USD, accounting for 11% of total FDI investment capital in the province; The largest of which is Nghi Son II Thermal Power Project, a joint venture with Japan, with investment capital of Korean investors amounting to 1.39 billion USD.

In 2021, export turnover of Korean enterprises in Thanh Hoa area will reach US$ 428 million, accounting for 10.2% of export turnover of the province; Up to now, Thanh Hoa has more than 6,000 people working in Korea.

Besides, Thanh Hoa province has been sponsored by the Korean Government to implement 5 ODA projects with a total capital of 135 million USD; in which, the grant is USD 1 million, focusing mainly on the fields of health, education, transport, urban development…

In the coming time, Thanh Hoa province wishes to continue to strengthen comprehensive cooperation with Korean partners in many fields. Thanh Hoa will provide maximum support to Korean investors, businesses and partners to survey and implement investment cooperation activities.

According to the Secretary of the Thanh Hoa Provincial Party Committee, the meeting with the Republic of Korea in 2022 in Thanh Hoa will open a new stage of good development for the Vietnam – Korea strategic cooperative partnership and cooperation relationship. develop between Thanh Hoa province, the northern provinces and the North Central region of Vietnam and the Korean localities, agencies, organizations and enterprises.