Speaking at a seminar to promote Korean FDI in Hanoi and the northern provinces held on July 24, Mr. Nguyen Phu Binh, Chairman of the Association for Liaison with overseas Vietnamese, former Deputy Minister The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, former Vietnamese Ambassador to the Republic of Korea, said: “After 30 years of establishing diplomatic relations between Vietnam and South Korea, the relationship between the two countries has developed dramatically in all aspects, becoming a partnership of each other’s strategies, especially in the economic field.
“In the field of foreign investment, for many years, Korea has always been the number one investor in Vietnam, making a very important and effective contribution to Vietnam’s economic development. Korean investment not only focused on a few densely populated provinces around Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, but gradually spread to all regions of Vietnam. Aspects of investment are more diverse and richer,” said Mr. Nguyen Phu Binh.
As one of the localities that attracts a lot of investment from FDI enterprises, including Korean ones, said Mr. Ngo Tan Phuong, Vice Chairman of Bac Ninh Provincial People’s Committee, the province has focused on infrastructure investment for the region of industrial parks (currently Bac Ninh has 36 industrial parks ready to welcome new investors), expanding and investing in new traffic routes, ensuring power sources for industrial parks. In particular, Bac Ninh province has a customs clearance port, ICD Tan Cang – Que Vo ICD and established an interdisciplinary team ready to answer all questions of businesses. They also regularly organize dialogues between provincial leaders and FDI businesses.
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| Samsung is one of the Korean enterprises investing in Vietnam the most in recent years. Photo: Tran Ngoc |
According to Mr. Kwon Sung-Taek, Vice President of Korea-Vietnam Economic and Cultural Association (KOVECA), the trend of Korean investment in Vietnam in the future will change significantly. In the ASEAN region, bilateral trade turnover between Vietnam and the Republic of Korea is equal to the total bilateral trade of Korea with the other nine countries. Regarding production investment, Korean enterprises contribute about 25% of Vietnam’s total export turnover.
According to Kwon Sung-Taek, South Korea aims to raise bilateral trade turnover to USD100 billion by 2023 and USD150 billion by 2030 in a balanced and sustainable direction, in which increasing the amount of exports of Vietnam to Korea.
In the field of investment, Korea encourages enterprises to increase capital inflows into key industrial sectors in parallel with technology transfer to Vietnam; continued close cooperation in the field of science and technology, including the implementation of the second phase of the Vietnam – Korea Institute of Science and Technology (VKIST) project.
As Vietnam becomes a developed country, the experience of Korea’s strong development tectonic state becomes a valuable lesson for other countries to learn, including Vietnam. There are many areas worth learning, especially in the field of industrialization, supporting industries, manufacturing, biology, culture, tourism, digital economy, and innovative start-ups when Korea holds the position as a pioneer in the world.
According to Mr. Vu Tien Loc, Chairman of the Vietnam International Arbitration Center and former Chairman of the Confederation of Commerce and Industry (VCCI), Vietnam has experienced two periods of investment.
The first phase, when it was newly renovated and opened, focused on key areas and clusters in the South, and Ho Chi Minh City, Binh Duong, and Dong Nai became leaders of Vietnam’s industrialization and modernization. Now Vietnam is entering the second investment wave of foreign investors, including South Korea with a very strong exchange of the key economy in the North, the capital and surrounding areas with many advantages to become the center of investment attraction of the country.
To do that, the National Assembly has just made a very important decision to invest and develop Ring Road 4, create a connecting road, expand space, and link with provinces located in the core area of the capital. This is a great opportunity for industry and supporting industries to develop.
In addition, the impact of the epidemic and geopolitical conflicts are creating shifts, one of the important shifts is in the investment supply chain, businesses have moved from China to Vietnam, Korean investors are also in that flow.