Four hundred and fifty five businesses from Vietnam and South Korea gathered for a business forum in Hanoi July 3 to discuss measures to foster the economic relationship between the two sides.
The forum, co-organized by the Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI) and South Korea’s Maeil business newspaper, included 120 South Korean firms operating in IT sector, energy, construction, transportation, financial services, real estate, and services.
The participants focused on three major issues of bilateral industrial cooperation, privatization of Vietnamese state-owned enterprises and investment opportunities in Vietnam, particularly in financial services and property market.
Speaking at the gathering, South Korean Minister of Commerce, Industry and Energy Kim Young Ju noted that Vietnam will be a strategic gateway for South Korean companies to get deeper penetration into ASEAN countries.
While Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Sinh Hung hoped that South Korea will continue to be among top investors in Vietnam in the coming time.
On the same day, the two countries signed a memorandum of understanding on economic cooperation to build a joint task force on economic cooperation.
The group will mostly act in the fields of trade and investment, agriculture, services, construction, infrastructure, information technology, defense industry and energy.
The group, comprised of government representatives, officials from the commerce and industry chambers and businesspeople, will meet annually.
Vietnamese and South Korean enterprises signed investment projects worth a total US$4.3 billion at the bilateral Investment, Trade and Tourism Forum in Seoul May 23, according to state media.
The largest project is a US$4 billion integrated steel plant between steel maker Posco and the Vietnam Shipbuilding Industry Group (Vinashin).
It was followed by a US$240 million pulp mill between Nghe An Pulp Joint Stock Company and Samsung Corp, and a US$45 million fabric factory between Taechang Company, Vietnam National Textile and Garment Group (Vinatex) and Thien Nam Company.
P.V
Vietnamese
