Vietnam, RoK hold high-level talks

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc (L) and President of the Republic of Korea (RoK) Moon Jae-in (Photo: VGP)

The host leader hailed the positive development of the bilateral relations across multiple fields and congratulated Vietnamese people on the tremendous achievements in economic development and national construction over the past time.

Vietnam is the key partner in the RoK’s New Southern Policy, he said while calling on both nations to take their cooperative ties to new heights.

He said he hopes that PM Phuc will support and attend international forums to be held by the RoK, including the Partnering for Green Growth and the Global Goals 2030 (P4G), in Seoul in June 2020.

For his side, PM Phuc congratulated the RoK on successfully organizing the 30th ASEAN-RoK Commemorative Summit and the first Mekong-RoK Summit.

He showed his elation at the flourishing strategic cooperative partnership between Vietnam and the RoK, saying Vietnam attributes great importance to the relationship and will closely join hands with the RoK to foster the ties in the time ahead.

The two leaders consented to deepen mutual understanding and trust, intensify regular delegation exchanges and meetings between leaders at all levels, and effectively maintain ministerial-level dialogue mechanisms regarding diplomacy, national security and defence.

PM Phuc invited President Moon to attend relevant high-level ASEAN meetings to be hosted by Vietnam next year, and the invitation was graciously accepted.

Regarding the outcomes of economic cooperation, both sides shared the view that economic cooperation is the pillar, providing momentum for the bilateral relationship.

They reiterated the common goal of balancing the two-way trade, and consented to elevate bilateral trade turnover to US$100 billion in the coming years.

The Vietnamese Government leader asked the RoK to offer favourable conditions for Vietnam to bolster its exports to the Northeast Asian country, especially farm produce and seafood.

Overview of the talks (Photo: VGP)

He extolled the RoK as Vietnam’s biggest foreign investor that has made positive contributions to the Southeast Asian country’s socio-economic development, and called on Korean businesses to pour more investments in the fields of the RoK’s strength and Vietnam’s demand, particularly high-tech, support and auto industries.

Host and guest also concurred to advance partnership in development cooperation and effectively implement the official development assistance (ODA) package of US$1.5 billion the RoK has pledged for the 2016-2020 period.

They rejoiced at the fruitful cooperation and people-to-people exchange between the two nations, stressing that it is a firm foundation for the sustainable development of bilateral ties.

The two leaders agreed to make sustained efforts to incentivize and facilitate people-to-people exchanges, take heed to and support the Vietnamese community in the RoK and the Korean community in Vietnam, and bolster cooperation in culture, education, scientific research and sports, among others.

PM Phuc said he hopes the President, government and people of the RoK to provide continued support for the Vietnamese community in the host country, especially the Vietnamese-Korean families.

Both sides compared notes on international and regional issues and consented to enhance information sharing, cooperation and mutual support at international forums like the United Nations and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

They underscored the importance of ensuring peace, security, safety and freedom of navigation and aviation, and the settlement of disputes in the East Sea by peaceful measures in accordance with international law.

PM Phuc welcomed the RoK’s efforts in accelerating the peace process on the Korean Peninsula, and affirmed Vietnam’s unwavering policy of supporting peace, stability and denuclearisation on the Korean Peninsula, and dealing with related issues via peaceful measures and dialogues.

President Moon congratulated Vietnam on becoming a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council for the 2020-2021 tenure and ASEAN Chair 2020, and affirmed his nation’s coordination with Vietnam to help it fulfill the important role.

After the talks, the two leaders witnessed the signing of a number of cooperation documents, including a protocol amending the double taxation avoidance agreement, a memorandum of understanding on cooperation in navigation and crew training, a MoU on cooperation between the Vietnam Trade Promotion Agency (Vietrade) and the Korea Trade Promotion Agency (KOITRA), a MoU on cooperation to increase capacity of the Vietnam Development Bank between the Vietnam Finance Ministry and the Korea Development Bank (KDB).

The same day, Prime Minister Phuc and his delegation visited the Vietnamese Embassy and met with Vietnamese young intellectuals in the RoK.