Substantive results of the Prime Minister's visit to Korea

Foreign Minister Bui Thanh Son gave an interview to the press about the significance and outstanding results of the Prime Minister's visit to Korea.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh holds talks with South Korean Prime Minister Han Duck Soo. (Photo: Duong Giang/VNA)

According to VNA special correspondent, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and the Vietnamese delegation have just successfully concluded an official visit to South Korea from June 30 to July 3.

Foreign Minister Bui Thanh Son gave an interview to the press about the significance and outstanding results of the visit.

Here is the content of the interview.

- Could you please tell us about the significance and activities during Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh's official visit to Korea?

Minister of Foreign Affairs Bui Thanh Son: At the invitation of Korean Prime Minister Han Duck Soo, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, his wife and a high-ranking Vietnamese delegation paid an official visit to Korea.

This is the first visit to Korea by a senior Vietnamese leader since the two countries upgraded their relationship to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership (December 2022) and the first visit to Korea by Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh as head of the Government.

In general, the visit had “important significance, rich program, extensive content, and substantial results.”

Minister of Foreign Affairs Bui Thanh Son. (Photo: VNA)

The visit was a great success, achieving the set goals, and was a practical step in implementing the foreign policy of the 13th National Party Congress and the Vietnam-Korea Comprehensive Strategic Partnership. The visit was an important milestone, demonstrating the highly developed relationship between the two countries.

During the working trip, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh had a dense, rich and diverse working program with 34 activities with politicians, economists, experts, scientists, friendship organizations and non-governmental organizations.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh held talks with South Korean Prime Minister Han Duck Soo; together with Prime Minister Han Duck Soo, witnessed the ceremony of handing over cooperation documents signed between ministries and branches of the two countries; met with President Yoon Suk Yeol and National Assembly Chairman Woo Won Shik; attended and spoke at three forums on economy, labor, tourism and culture; attended and spoke at two seminars with leading Korean economic organizations and with Korean experts and scientists in the fields of semiconductors and artificial intelligence (AI).

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh also delivered a policy speech at Seoul National University, South Korea, Samsung Semiconductor Complex, received leaders of major Korean corporations, visited the Embassy, met with the Vietnamese community in South Korea, and visited the Vietnamese-Korean multicultural family.

During the working trip, the ministers and local leaders participating in the delegation also had dozens of meetings and worked with their counterparts. The meetings and exchanges with the Korean side took place in an atmosphere of sincerity, trust, substance and mutual understanding.

- Could you please tell us about the outstanding results of Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh's official visit to Korea?

Minister of Foreign Affairs Bui Thanh Son: The results of the visit are reflected in the following five aspects:

The first, The visit achieved many important and substantive results, including the leaders of the two countries agreeing to issue a joint press release after the talks with eight major contents outlining the progress of the Vietnam-Korea cooperation relationship since upgrading to a comprehensive strategic partnership in 2022 and specific cooperation contents to promote substantive and effective development cooperation in the fields of politics-diplomacy, trade, investment, science-technology, culture, tourism, labor, people-to-people exchange, and new areas of cooperation....

Ministries, sectors and businesses of the two countries signed 40 cooperation documents in the fields of digital transformation, renewable energy, green transformation, climate change, semiconductors, artificial intelligence, cooperation between small and medium enterprises, cultural cooperation, tourism, etc.

Monday, The working trip deepened political trust and consolidated good personal relations between the two countries' senior leaders. The two countries' leaders affirmed their determination to implement high-level agreements and develop the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership in a practical, effective and long-term manner.

The Korean leader emphasized that the two countries have many similarities in history and culture, and complement each other in economy and human resources.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and his wife visited the family of Jang Yeong Gak and Vu Thai Linh - a Vietnamese-Korean multicultural family in Osan city, Gyeonggi province. (Photo: Duong Giang/VNA)

The community of nearly 300,000 Vietnamese citizens in Korea and 200,000 Korean citizens in Vietnam, including 90,000 Vietnamese-Korean multicultural families, is a favorable factor creating a natural, close and mutually beneficial connection, thereby developing a comprehensive and substantive cooperative relationship between the two countries.

The Korean leader affirmed that Vietnam is the focus in implementing Korea's foreign policies in the region, including the Indo-Pacific Strategy and the ASEAN-Korea Solidarity Initiative (KASI). Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh affirmed that Vietnam supports Korea's development policies and goals, including the "Global Key Country" policy.

Tuesday, The working trip achieved many substantive results, especially in the fields of economic, trade and investment cooperation, thereby contributing to the implementation of the contents of the Action Program for June 2023.

The two sides affirmed that economic cooperation is one of the most important pillars in the cooperation between the two countries; agreed to jointly implement specific measures to soon complete the goal of increasing bilateral trade turnover to 100 billion USD by 2025 and towards the target of 150 billion USD by 2030 in a balanced and sustainable manner; agreed to promote procedures to soon open each other's markets for Vietnamese grapefruit and Korean melon in 2024.

The Korean leader affirmed that he will continue to consider Vietnam a strategic partner in official development assistance (ODA); and will support capacity building for Vietnamese enterprises to participate more deeply in the production supply chain of Korean enterprises.

The two sides agreed to strengthen cooperation to promote the construction of a stable core mineral supply chain to ensure economic security for both countries.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh speaks at the Vietnam-Korea Business Forum. (Photo: Duong Giang/VNA)

At the Vietnam-Korea Business Forum and the Dialogue with leading Korean economic organizations on energy and finance, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh shared the situation and orientation for Vietnam's economic development, suggested that Korean enterprises continue to expand their investment in Vietnam, and witnessed the signing ceremony of 23 cooperation documents between enterprises and localities of the two countries on cooperation in the fields of trade, investment, health, education, semiconductors, energy and strengthening cooperation between Vietnamese localities and Korean enterprises.

Korean enterprises highly appreciated Vietnam's safe and stable investment environment and its great potential for cooperation; thanked the Vietnamese Government for its attention in removing difficulties and creating favorable conditions for enterprises to feel secure and invest long-term in Vietnam; and said that Korean enterprises are interested and wish to invest in areas such as supporting industries, digital transformation, green economy, semiconductors, environmentally friendly energy, biotechnology, 5G networks, smart cities, etc.

Wednesday, Through the visit, the two sides promoted cooperation in human resources, labor, culture and tourism. The two sides affirmed that labor cooperation brings benefits to both sides.

Vietnamese workers in Korea are hard-working, diligent, highly skilled, and creative, and are increasingly contributing significantly to the socio-economic development of both countries. Korea is committed to supporting Vietnam in training workers in the industrial sector, creating a favorable environment for Vietnamese workers to live and work stably and conveniently in Korea.

The two countries agreed to strengthen cultural, tourism and educational cooperation towards the goal of people-to-people exchange between the two countries reaching 5 million people.

The Korean leaders welcomed and affirmed that they will support the opening of the Vietnamese Consulate General in Busan city in 2024 and the establishment of the Vietnamese Cultural Center in Korea; Korea will share experiences and support Vietnam in developing the cultural industry.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh proposed simplifying visa procedures and moving towards visa exemption for Vietnamese citizens entering Korea to contribute to promoting tourism cooperation between the two countries; strengthening cooperation between localities of the two countries, effectively implementing the “Meet Korea” mechanism in localities; and requesting the Korean Government to continue supporting and creating more favorable conditions for the Vietnamese community to feel secure and stabilize their long-term lives in Korea.

Thursday, The working trip opened up many opportunities for cooperation between the two countries in a number of new areas such as innovation, high technology, renewable energy, digital transformation, green transformation, climate change response, semiconductors and artificial intelligence (AI).

The Korean leaders hope that the two sides will cooperate to soon create substantial results in this field, agreeing to study the exchange mechanism on directions and specific projects that can be implemented in the fields of semiconductors, artificial intelligence, and human resource training in the field of innovation; commit to supporting Vietnam with 30 million USD in 4 years to implement the R&D research and development project, and continue to implement phase 2 of the Vietnam-Korea Institute of Science and Technology VKIST Project.

During the visit, Korea affirmed that it will support Vietnam to successfully organize the Partnership for Green Growth and the Global Goals 2030 (P4G) Summit in April 2025./.

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