Vietnam and Korea established official diplomatic relations in 1992. Bilateral trade and investment relations have quickly improved so far. Vietnam Business Forum interviewed Ambassador Ha Chan-ho of the Republic of Korea to Vietnam to learn about the diplomatic and economic relations of the two countries over 20 years. Le Hien reports.
What are your impressions of Vietnam after being here for one year? And could you please tell us about your country and people, as well as some outstanding manners and customs of Korean?
My impression of Vietnam is of the positive thinking of the people and dynamism of the society as a whole. Korean people are hard working and highly spiritual. These virtues helped South Korea escape from the list of poor countries in only half a century, becoming a member country of OECD. The country plays a key role in the G-20. It has hosted World Cup and the Summer and Winter Olympics. It has also spread Korean Wave Hallyu worldwide, and become the seventh largest country in terms of commercial transactions. The strongest feature of the Korean culture is the rich emotional relationships between people, who are always aware of the interests of the community, and very hospitable.
In a short time, less than twenty years, Korea and Vietnam have demonstrated a model case of bilateral relations; Korea is one of Vietnam's top foreign investors, trading partners and donors; more than 100,000 of our citizens live in each other’s countries, and one out of ten foreign visitors in Vietnam is Korean. Since 2009 when the two presidents decided to upgrade relations into a strategic cooperative partnership, our two countries have been expanding the scope of cooperation even in diplomatic and security areas. This year, while we are celebrating our twenty year anniversary of diplomatic ties, we will set a milestone for next twenty years of partnership and friendship.
Which fields do you think the two countries need to promote strongly to cooperate in the future?
We will certainly continue to expand our cooperation in trade and investment, and enhance development cooperation as well. In the meantime, Korea will work closely with Vietnam as strategic cooperative partners in meeting with current and future global challenges such as international financial instability and climate change. In this context, Korea and Vietnam will speed up our on-going collaboration in fields where we need to be prepared for the future together, such as the peaceful use of nuclear energy and building up human capacity.
About 2,500 Korean companies have successfully invested and operated their businesses in Vietnam. For assisting them, the Korean Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) opened a branch in Hanoi. Also, Korean businessmen established their own organization, Korean Chamber of Commerce in Vietnam (KORCHAM). I hope that VCCI can make good relationships with KCCI and KORCHAM. Through cooperation with both organizations, I expect that VCCI can make Vietnam a more attractive country for Korean investors.
Vietnamese
