RoK, five ASEAN countries sign MoU on development assistance
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Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc (L) and President of the Republic of Korea Moon Jae-in (Photo: VNA)

President Moon congratulated Vietnamese people on the great achievements they have recorded in economic development and national construction over the past time.

Applauding the development of the bilateral relationship across spheres, the host leader stressed that Vietnam is the core partner in the RoK’s New Southern Policy, and suggested the two countries advance their cooperative ties to a new level.

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

For his part, the Vietnamese leader congratulated the RoK on successfully organising the 30th ASEAN-RoK Commemorative Summit and the first Mekong-RoK Summit.

He rejoiced at the thriving strategic cooperative partnership between Vietnam and the RoK, saying Vietnam attaches great importance to the relationship and will closely join hands with the RoK to advance the ties in the coming years.

Host and guest agreed to consolidate and enhance mutual understanding and trust, conduct regular delegation exchanges and meetings between leaders at both central and local levels, and effectively maintain ministerial-level dialogue mechanisms in diplomacy, national security and defence.

PM Phuc invited President Moon to attend relevant high-level ASEAN conferences to be hosted by Vietnam in 2020. The Korean President accepted the invitation with pleasure.

Reviewing outcomes of economic cooperation, the leaders shared the view that economic cooperation is the pillar and momentum of the bilateral relationship.

They reiterated the common goal of balancing the two-way trade, and consented to raise the bilateral trade revenue to 100 billion USD in the years to come.

PM Phuc called on the RoK to create favourable conditions for Vietnam to increase its exports to the Northeast Asian country, especially farm produce and seafood.

He lauded the RoK as Vietnam’s biggest foreign investor that has actively contributed to the Southeast Asian country’s socio-economic development, and called on Korean firms to pour more investments in the areas of the RoK’s strength and Vietnam’s demand, particularly high-tech, support and auto industries.

The two sides also agreed to step up partnership in development cooperation and effectively implement the official development assistance (ODA) package of 1.5 billion USD the RoK has committed for the 2016-2020 period.

They were delighted at the fruitful cooperation and people-to-people exchange between the two countries, emphasising that it is a solid foundation for the sustainable development of bilateral ties.

The two leaders agreed to continue encouraging and facilitating people-to-people exchanges, pay attention to and support the Vietnamese community in the RoK and the Korean community in Vietnam, while promoting cooperation in culture, education, scientific research and sports, among others.

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

The two discussed international and regional issues and agreed to increase information sharing, cooperation and mutual support at international forums like the United Nations and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), stressing 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 line with international law.

PM Phuc welcomed the RoK’s efforts in boosting the peace process on the Korean Peninsula, and affirmed Vietnam’s consistent policy of supporting peace, stability and denuclearisation on the Korean Peninsula, and settling 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 country’s coordination with Vietnam to fulfil the important role.

After the talks, the two leaders witnessed the signing of cooperation documents between the two sides, including a protocol amending the double taxation avoidance agreement, a memorandum of understanding on cooperation in navigation and crew training, an MoU on cooperation between the Vietnam Trade Promotion Agency (Vietrade) and the Korea Trade Promotion Agency (KOITRA), an MoU on cooperation to enhance 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 entourage visited the Vietnamese Embassy in the RoK.

The PM informed the embassy’s staff and representatives of overseas Vietnamese, workers and students of Vietnam’s recent achievements, expressing his wish that the Vietnamese community will abide by local law, preserve the Vietnamese culture and well integrate into the host society.

Also on the day, the PM met with Vietnamese young intellectuals in the RoK. Minister of Planning and Investment Nguyen Chi Dung attended the meeting./.

VNA