Bringing bilateral trade turnover to 150 billion USD

The Vietnam - Korea Investment Cooperation Forum 2024 with the theme "Trust and Cooperation: Sustainable Development Strategy for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs)", jointly organized by the Vietnam Association of Small and Medium Enterprises and the Korea Association of SMEs on November 21, in Hanoi.

Speaking at the forum, Permanent Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Hoa Binh emphasized: Economic, trade and investment cooperation has become a bright spot and an important pillar in the relationship between the two countries. In 2023, two-way trade turnover will reach 76 billion USD. Korea is Vietnam's third largest trading partner (after China and the United States), Vietnam's third largest export market (after the United States and China) and Vietnam's second largest import market (after China).

Vietnam is not only Korea's largest economic partner in the ASEAN region but also one of Korea's three largest economic partners in the world in terms of trade and investment.

Korea has always been Vietnam's number 1 investment partner among 146 countries and territories investing in Vietnam, with total registered investment capital reaching over 87 billion USD with nearly 10,000 projects. Korea's investment focuses on important sectors of the economy, such as: high technology, electronics, manufacturing industry, energy, automobiles, construction, real estate, etc.

"The leaders of the two countries set a goal of soon increasing bilateral trade turnover to 100 billion USD in the coming time and 150 billion USD by 2030," said the Deputy Prime Minister.

According to the Deputy Prime Minister, the Vietnamese Government always encourages Korean enterprises to expand investment cooperation in areas where Korea has strengths and Vietnam has high demand for attracting and prioritizing such as: high technology, electronics, semiconductors, artificial intelligence (AI), infrastructure construction, renewable energy, new energy (hydrogen), biotechnology, innovation, training of high-quality human resources...

At the same time, pay attention to supporting and creating conditions for Vietnamese enterprises to participate in the value chain of Korean corporations, especially in areas where Vietnam has potential; consider Vietnam a strategic destination to build research and development (R&D) centers and apply high technology.

In addition, Korean enterprises need to make recommendations and advise the Government, ministries, branches and localities to remove barriers in the production and business process.

Vietnamese and Korean businesses cooperate to seek development opportunities globally

Mr. Kim Sung Seop, Vice Minister of SMEs and Startups of Korea, shared: With a young population and high digital adoption capacity, Vietnam is a very important country for Korean SMEs. Cooperation between SMEs of the two countries will become a synergy for both sides.

Last year, the Korea Startup Center (K-Startup Center) in Hanoi officially started operating. Startups from both countries can form a cooperative network, share technology with each other, and become economic partners. Through such activities, the difficulties of Korean enterprises when investing in Vietnam will be resolved.

“This Vietnam - Korea Investment Cooperation Forum will help private enterprises understand each other better, find more investment cooperation opportunities to develop strongly together, and open a new page in investment cooperation between the two countries,” said Mr. Kim Sung Seop.

Mr. Kim Ki Mun, Chairman of the Korean Association of SMEs, expressed his hope that the forum would not only be a place to share experiences but also create new cooperation opportunities, promoting the development of SMEs of the two countries.

According to him, successful models from Korea such as Samsung's smart factory or smart farm will be valuable lessons for Vietnamese enterprises in improving production capacity and technological innovation.

Affirming that “SMEs in both countries play a very important role in the socio-economic development of the country”, Mr. Nguyen Van Than, Chairman of the Vietnam Association of SMEs, informed: In Vietnam, SMEs account for 97% of the total number of enterprises, annually contributing more than 40% of GDP and 60% of the labor force. In Korea, SMEs account for 99%, annually contributing 46% of GDP and 81% of the labor force.