Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong arrived in Seoul yesterday for a four-day visit to the Republic of Korea. - VNA/VNS Photo Tri Dung
SEOUL (VNS) – Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong arrived in Seoul yesterday afternoon, beginning a four-day state visit to the Republic of Korea (RoK) at the invitation of President Park Geun-hye.
The Party General Secretary received a delegation of the Korea-Viet Nam Friendship Association (KOVIFA) led by President Choi Young-joo. He praised the association’s contribution to the development of bilateral friendship and co-operation and hoped that it would continue to promote people-to-people exchanges.
Trong also met with representatives of the two Ly families in the RoK – Ly Tinh Thien (Changcheon Lee) and Ly Hoa Son (Hwasan Lee).
The Party leader said the two Ly families living in the RoK for seven-eight centuries was evidence of the long-standing relations between the two countries
He briefed representatives of the two Ly families on Viet Nam’s socio-economic development and the Party and State’s policies, stressing that the Party and State always considered the overseas Vietnamese community an indispensable part of the nation.
He called on the Ly families to act together in contributing to RoK’s development as well as the process of nation-building back home, saying this would further strengthen bilateral ties.
Co-operation in all fields
Also yesterday, the Party General Secretary said Viet Nam would continue to create favorable conditions for foreign investors, including those from South Korea.
The Party chief was speaking at a ceremony to hand the Samsung Group its investment licence to build a $1.4 billion electronics production factory in HCM City’s Sai Gon Hi-Tech Park. It is scheduled to become operational by 2016.
He said bilateral co-operation had grown in all fields due to the political determination of both nations and the support of their peoples and business communities.
Praising the efficiency of Samsung’s operations in Viet Nam, he said he hoped the group would continue to expand its investments in Viet Nam.
On the same day, the Party leader also met with the heads of the Keangnam Group, praising their contributions to Viet Nam’s development with numerous large-scale projects.
He said Viet Nam invited South Korean companies to make long-term investments, especially in infrastructure, human resources, green growth, and support industries.
Trong also visited the Vietnamese Embassy in Seoul and met members of the Vietnamese community.
Briefing them on socio-economic development, security-defence efforts, external relations and policy implementation in Viet Nam, the Party chief said his visit aimed to boost the strategic partnership between Viet Nam and South Korea.
In recent years, the Vietnamese community in South Korea has increased considerably. Many Vietnamese migrant workers and students live in the country and there have been many inter-marriages between Vietnamese and Korean nationals.
Trong and Deputy Prime Minister Hoang Trung Hai also attended a ceremony to launch VietJet Air’s flight routes between Viet Nam and South Korea.
In addition to the two new routes connecting Seoul to Da Nang City and Ha Noi, VietJet Air plans to open a Ha Noi-Busan route in December and a HCM City-Busan route in 2015.
The RoK is Viet Nam’s third largest trade partner with two-way trade reaching US$27.5 billion last year, quadrupling the 2007 level.
The two countries aim to raise bilateral trade to $70 billion by 2020 and are actively negotiating for the early signing of a bilateral Free Trade Agreement (FTA).
The RoK is also the second largest donor of official development assistance (ODA) to Viet Nam, after Japan, with $1.2 billion committed for the 2012-2015 period.
As many as 120,000 Vietnamese nationals live and work in the RoK, including 50,000 Vietnamese-Korean couples. The RoK community in Viet Nam numbers around 120,000. – VNS
Đăng ký: VietNam News