Day: December 3, 2022

 

President Nguyen Xuan Phuc will lead a high-ranking delegation of Vietnam to pay a state visit to the Republic of Korea (RoK) from December 4-6 at the invitation of Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol.

 

President Phuc will be the first foreign senior leader to pay a state visit to the RoK since President Yoon took office, showing the RoK’s appreciation of its ties with Vietnam when the Vietnamese President will be welcomed with the highest rites.

 

Vietnam and the RoK established their diplomatic relations on December 22, 1992 but they had engaged in cooperative activities earlier. In August 2001, the two nations issued a joint statement on the comprehensive partnership in the 21st century on the occasion of Vietnamese President Tran Duc Luong’s visit to the RoK. In October 2009, the bilateral ties were upgraded to a strategic cooperative partnership during the Vietnam visit by President Lee Myung-bak.

 

On political, national defence-security cooperation, the exchange of delegations and bilateral meetings have been maintained in both online and in-person formats.

 

As of September 2022, the RoK remained the biggest foreign investor in Vietnam with 80.52 billion USD, accounting for 18.6% of the total investment in the country.

 

With 1.2 billion USD in preferential loans from the Economic Development Cooperation Fund (EDCF) for 2012-2015 and 1.5 billion USD for 2016-2020, the RoK was the second biggest provider of official development assistance (ODA) for Vietnam. The RoK was also the third biggest trade partner of Vietnam with two-way trade of 66.65 billion USD in 2019, 65 billion USD in 2020 and 78 billion USD in 2021.

 

On the back of the Vietnam-Korea Free Trade Agreement (VKFTA) and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), the two countries are looking toward 100 billion USD in bilateral trade next year and 150 billion USD by 2030, by creating favourable conditions for Vietnam’s exports of agro-aquatic products and seasonal fruits.

 

The two countries are also working closely on regional and global issues of shared concern, including the East Sea issue and Korean Peninsula, stepping up coordination at multilateral forums and organisations as well as bilateral and multilateral free trade deals of which both nations are members.

 

Vietnam is the second biggest source of guest workers to the RoK, behind China, while the RoK was the second largest recipient of Vietnamese guest workers, behind Taiwan (China). At present, about 48,000 Vietnamese labourers are working in the RoK.

 

In recent years, the RoK has emerged as the second biggest source of tourists to Vietnam, behind China, reaching 4.2 million in 2019, up 23.1% from the previous year. The number of Vietnamese visitors to the RoK reached 550,000, up 21.9% year on year.

 

Bilateral judicial, educational, agricultural and sci-tech cooperation has also yielded fruits over the past years.

 

Statistics showed that over 216,000 Vietnamese are living in the RoK, including over 37,000 manual workers under the Employment Permit System (EPS) programme and crew workers while more than 180,000 Koreans are living and working in Vietnam, most of them are businesspeople.

 

So far, most of Vietnamese cities, provinces and localities have inked cooperation deals with Korean localities, organisations and businesses. Korean investors are now present in 59 localities, mostly in Bac Ninh, Hanoi, Dong Nai, Hai Phong, Thai Nguyen, and Ho Chi Minh City./.

 

Source: Vietnam News Agency

 

The second edition of the annual National Culture and Business Forum 2002 opened in Hanoi on December 3.

 

Speaking at the opening ceremony, Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Nguyen Van Hung said many Vietnamese firms are striving to build corporate and business culture based on inheriting and upholding national cultural values as a power of soft culture.

 

It is the depth of culture that helps businesses not only run after profit and get rich at all costs but also know how to comply with business ethics, social responsibility, respect the law and fair competition, and protect the environment, thus building the trust, prestige and brand of enterprises, he said, adding that it is key to their stable and sustainable development.

 

Hung called for creating a healthy business environment to draw foreign investors and upholding the internal strength of culture to develop cultural industries in the country. Each business should become an ambassador to promote the image of Vietnam, its culture and people to the world, he added.

 

Participants at the event offered their opinions on the role and impact of cultural revival on sustainable economic development, practical lessons and solutions to promoting the role of culture in economic recovery and development, especially during and after COVID-19 pandemic, and geopolitical conflicts and global economic downturn at present.

 

On this occasion, 24 enterprises meeting the standards of business culture this year were honoured./.

 

Source: Vietnam News Agency

 

 

Many overseas Vietnamese (OVs) living in Australia are delighted at the official visit by National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue, which they said, has brought a new breath of life with more hope and greater connection between those living far from the homeland.

 

Vu Long Thanh, an IT manager at Services Australia – one of the country’s major administrative units, believed that following the visit, economic and trade ties between the two nations will prosper.

 

Once Vietnamese enterprises could export to Australia, they could reach further to the world as the Pacific nation is a demanding market with high requirements, he said.

 

As one of members welcoming NA Chairman Hue to Australia, Vice President of the Vietnamese Students’ Association in Australia Nguyen Dinh Phuoc said with belief that the visit will open up new opportunities for Vietnam-Australia ties and Vietnamese students in particular.

 

He hoped that more Australian scholarships will be offered to Vietnamese students in the near future, and more cooperation deals will be signed to recognise training programmes and certificates of each other, thus enabling Vietnamese students to pursue short-term and long-term courses and join exchanges with Australia./.

 

Source: Vietnam News Agency

The first Ho Chi Minh City Friendship Dialogue (FD HCMC), themed “Resilience Adaptation for Recovery and Development”, was held on December 3 with the participation of over 20 foreign delegations from localities worldwide.

 

The event aims to promote the friendship and cooperation between HCM City and foreign localities as well as popularise the country and people to international friends.

 

Speaking at the opening, Chairman of the HCM City People’s Committee Phan Van Mai said in addition to the rapid expansion of cooperative relations, the city’s collaboration activities are diversified, bringing many practical results, contributing to the implementation of the country’s foreign policy and serving the city’s socio-economic development.

 

The official emphasised that a “Mayors’ conference” that took place right after the opening would be an opportunity to exchange experience and ways to deepen the relations, thus facilitating international integration.

 

He also said that the presence of leaders from central agencies and foreign guests at the event was not only great support for Ho Chi Minh City, but also reflected the friendship and determination to work together to further promote international cooperation activities in the coming time.

 

Minister of Foreign Affairs Bui Thanh Son spoke highly of the organisation of the dialogue, saying it demonstrated the city’s creativeness and its leading role in implementing external activities at the local level.

 

He hoped that foreign localities and HCM City will continue to unite and step up cooperation activities in all fields, making positive contributions to the development and prosperity of each country.

 

The minister thanked the international community, including friends of HCM City, for supporting and providing vaccines for Vietnam and HCM City in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. Son said he wished that the spirit of cooperation will continue to be promoted in the post-pandemic recovery.

 

At the end of the dialogue, the localities agreed to further strengthen the friendship and comprehensive cooperation on the basis of mutual respect and understanding. They also set forth initiatives to enhance people-to-people exchanges and cohesion./.

 

Source: Vietnam News Agency

President Nguyen Xuan Phuc offered incense and flowers in tribute to poet Ho Xuan Huong at the house of worship of the Ho family and her memorial stele in Quynh Doi commune of Quynh Luu district in the central province of Nghe An on December 3.

 

The activity was to honour Huong’s great contributions in terms of literature and ideology and in response to UNESCO’s appeal to honour individuals who made outstanding contributions to the development of culture, education and international understanding.

 

In the morning of the same day, President Phuc also offered incense and flowers at grave of Ho Tung Mau and a memorial stele dedicated to hero of armed forces Cu Chinh Lan. He expressed his gratitude to their dedication to the country.

 

On the occasion, the State leader presented gifts to 30 policy beneficiary families and ex-revolutionaries and handed over 30 houses to families living in especially difficult circumstance in Quynh Luu district./.

 

Source: Vietnam News Agency