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Vietnam South Korea Partnership Strengthens with New Deals in Energy, Rail, and Tech
Hanoi calls Seoul the Southeast Asian nation’s ‘most important economic partner’
Vietnam South Korea Strengthen Strategic Partnership
SEOUL/HANOI — The leaders of South Korea and Vietnam agreed on Monday toseek deeper cooperation in fields such as nuclear energy, high-speed railways andcritical minerals as their countries seek to upgrade bilateral ties.
Vietnamese Communist Party General Secretary To Lam, the country’s top leader,met with South Korean President Lee Jae Myung on Monday at Lee’s office. Lam isthe first foreign leader hosted by the South Korean president since Lee took officein June.
South Korea is Vietnam’s largest source of foreign direct investment and third-largest trading partner. Samsung is Vietnam’s biggest foreign investor, havingpoured more than $23 billion into the country. Around half of Samsung’s phonesare made in Vietnam.
Lee said the choice to welcome Lam as his first head of state guest was”meaningful” and that the two countries are crafting “pragmatic responses tochanges in the world order.”
Lee’s office said in a news release that the sides will make efforts to boost annualbilateral trade to $150 billion, up from $86.7 billion in 2024. It added that morethan 10,000 South Korean companies have operations in Vietnam, and the countryis working to strengthen its position as the Southeast Asian nation’s largest sourceof foreign investment.
Lam described South Korea as his country’s “most important economic partner,”noting that it is the largest source of both outside investment and tourist inflows,according to Lee’s office. “I hope that bilateral cooperation will develop in a new,progressive and cooperative manner,” Lam said.
Vietnam Economic Reform Vision Toward 2045
Vietnam is aiming to become a developed country by 2045. The government has seta growth target for this year at 8.3% to 8.5% and is aiming to reach double-digitgrowth from 2026 onwards. Vietnam’s top leaders want the country to advance inthe global semiconductor and AI races, and view science and technology as thegateway to move up the global economic ladder.
The country is also boosting infrastructure, speeding up huge projects such asbullet trains, airports, railways, highways and metro lines in big cities.
Lam, 68, is on a four-day state visit to South Korea that started Sunday. Vietnam’smost powerful leader took the helm last August
after his predecessor, Nguyen PhuTrong, died, having served close to three terms.
Since taking over, Lam and his leadership have rolled out a series of measures aimed at restructuring the government, administration and economy, in what is thecountry’s biggest reform drive in nearly four decades. The four-pillar reform effortincludes boosting innovation, developing the science and technology sectors andnurturing more homegrown private companies. There are also measures topromote international integration and administrative reform.
The government has also been calling for Vietnamese experts to return home.Recently, Hanoi relaxed the nationality law to attract talent away from big globaltech companies and scientists holding patent rights. It is promising competitivesalaries, tax exemptions and accommodations to bring home talented members ofthe Vietnamese diaspora.
As soon as he landed in South Korea on Sunday, Lam met with a group ofVietnamese scientists and technology experts who work in South Korea’ssemiconductor, AI, advanced healthcare, robotics, autonomous vehicle, aviation,aerospace and unmanned aerial vehicle sectors, according to the government newswebsite. There are around 350,000 Vietnamese living in South Korea, and around200,000 South Koreans in Vietnam.
Lam and Lee are scheduled to hold a state dinner on Monday evening.
Source: Nikkei Asia
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