Vietnam on track to draw Korean investors: National Assembly chief
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"This includes prioritizing vaccination for workers in Korean industrial parks and factories, ensuring pandemic containment measures, preventing a supply chain disruption of Korean businesses, providing tax incentives and promptly removing emerging obstacles and difficulties."
"The two sides are making every effort to turn the COVID-19 pandemic into an opportunity for collaboration in new areas, especially health and digital technology cooperation."
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Despite the prolonged pandemic, Vietnam is on track to draw foreign and Korean investors, and addressing their difficulties remain the nation’s top priority, said Vuong Dinh Hue, president of the Vietnam National Assembly, on Saturday.
“Vietnam has created all favorable conditions to assist foreign experts and managers, including Korean ones, in sustaining their economic operation,” Vuong said in an email interview with The Korea Herald. He arrived in Seoul on Sunday for a four-day official visit.
“This includes prioritizing vaccination for workers in Korean industrial parks and factories, ensuring pandemic containment measures, preventing a supply chain disruption of Korean businesses, providing tax incentives and promptly removing emerging obstacles and difficulties.”
Vietnamese President Nguyen Xuan Phuc and Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh have also participated in the roundtable discussions with Korean businesses.
“Given the complicated developments of the COVID-19 pandemic, addressing difficulties and attracting investment from foreign investors, particularly the Korean ones, remain the top priority of Vietnam, including of the National Assembly,” he said.
South Korea is currently the largest investor of foreign direct investment in Vietnam with over 9,100 projects and a total registered capital of $72.3 billion. Korea is Vietnam’s second-largest trade partner with a two-way trade turnover of $65 billion in 2020.
Korea is also Vietnam’s second-largest donor in official development assistance, with a $1.5 billion grant committed alone in 2016-2020.
“In addition to bilateral cooperation mechanisms, within the framework of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, or RCEP, the two nations are important partners,” he said.
“This is an important groundwork for Vietnam and South Korea to strengthen our bilateral cooperation, consolidate our positions as each other’s leading trade and investment partner, and expand our strategic partnership,” he said.
Korea is also considering joining the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership, or CPTPP, of which Vietnam is also a member.
RCEP is a proposed free trade agreement between ASEAN member states (Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam) and its six FTA partners (Australia, China, India, Japan, New Zealand and Korea). RCEP is set to come into force at the beginning of 2022.
CPTPP is a free trade agreement between Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, Peru, New Zealand, Singapore and Vietnam.
“With the implementation of preferential tariffs (the elimination of at least 92 percent of import tariff lines between Vietnam and Korea by 2040), harmonization of commitments and standard, and reduction of export procedures, the agreement will create favorable conditions for the business communities of both countries to strengthen investment and business cooperation,” Vuong said.
“We also hope that through the RCEP, Vietnamese exports can have greater access to Korea’s market, thus increasing imports and encouraging high-quality investments from Korea to Vietnam.”
Asked about the future landscape of the two nations, he said Vietnam always attaches importance to further strengthening ties with Korea.
Vuong noted that the two have enjoyed a strong bond since the two established diplomatic relations in 1992.
“Such impressive progress is very rare in any bilateral relationship between countries around the world. Such bond has been growing ever stronger since the establishment of the Vietnam-ROK Strategic Cooperative Partnership in 2009,” he said.
“Korea is Vietnam’s top partner in numerous fields, while Vietnam is Korea’s key partner in its New Southern Policy,” he added.
Vuong admitted that the impact of COVID-19 has severely affected activities, from economic cooperation to people-to-people exchanges and many other areas, with the exception of high-level talks, which have continued.
“Such activities were conducted under diverse, flexible formats both physically and virtually to be in line with the new context,” he said.
Vuong said Korea was among the first to assist Vietnam in its fight against COVID-19, including supplying medical supplies and vaccines.
“The two sides are making every effort to turn the COVID-19 pandemic into an opportunity for collaboration in new areas, especially health and digital technology cooperation.”
Vuong hopes his visit to Korea will open up a new chapter for the two.
“I am confident that our cooperation will garner more successes, thanks to the solid foundations and achievements in our relations in nearly 30 years, geographical proximity, historical and cultural similarities.”
By Sanjay Kumar(sanjaykumar@heraldcorp.com)
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