Seoul (VNA) – Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc held talks with Presidentof the Republic of Korea (RoK) Moon Jae-in in Seoul on November 27, duringwhich they discussed orientations and measures to enhance relations betweenVietnam and the RoK.

PresidentMoon congratulated Vietnamese people on the great achievements they haverecorded in economic development and national construction over the past time.

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

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

Forhis part, the Vietnamese leader congratulated the RoK on successfullyorganising the 30th ASEAN-RoK Commemorative Summit and the firstMekong-RoK Summit.

Herejoiced at the thriving strategic cooperative partnership between Vietnam andthe RoK, saying Vietnam attaches great importance to the relationship and willclosely join hands with the RoK to advance the ties in the coming years.

Hostand guest agreed to consolidate and enhance mutual understanding and trust,conduct regular delegation exchanges and meetings between leaders at bothcentral and local levels, and effectively maintain ministerial-level dialoguemechanisms in diplomacy, national security and defence.

PMPhuc invited President Moon to attend relevant high-level ASEAN conferences tobe hosted by Vietnam in 2020. The Korean President accepted the invitation withpleasure.

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

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

PMPhuc called on the RoK to create favourable conditions for Vietnam to increaseits exports to the Northeast Asian country, especially farm produce andseafood.

Helauded the RoK as Vietnam’s biggest foreign investor that has activelycontributed to the Southeast Asian country’s socio-economic development, andcalled on Korean firms to pour more investments in the areas of the RoK’sstrength and Vietnam’s demand, particularly high-tech, support and autoindustries.

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

Theywere delighted at the fruitful cooperation and people-to-people exchangebetween the two countries, emphasising that it is a solid foundation for thesustainable development of bilateral ties.

The two leaders agreed to continue encouraging and facilitating people-to-peopleexchanges, pay attention to and support the Vietnamese community in the RoK andthe 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 tocontinue supporting the Vietnamese community in the host country, especiallythe Vietnamese-Korean families.

The two discussed international and regional issues and agreed to increaseinformation sharing, cooperation and mutual support at international forumslike the United Nations and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN),stressing the importance of ensuring peace, security, safety and freedom ofnavigation and aviation, and the settlement of disputes in the East Sea bypeaceful measures in line with international law.

PM Phuc welcomed the RoK’s efforts in boosting the peace process on the KoreanPeninsula, and affirmed Vietnam’s consistent policy of supporting peace,stability and denuclearisation on the Korean Peninsula, and settling relatedissues via peaceful measures and dialogues.

President Moon congratulated Vietnam on becoming a non-permanent member of theUN Security Council for the 2020-2021 tenure and ASEAN Chair 2020, and affirmedhis country’s coordination with Vietnam to fulfil the important role.

After the talks, the two leaders witnessed the signing of cooperation documentsbetween the two sides, including a protocol amending the double taxationavoidance agreement, a memorandum of understanding on cooperation in navigationand crew training, an MoU on cooperation between the Vietnam Trade PromotionAgency (Vietrade) and the Korea Trade Promotion Agency (KOITRA), an MoU oncooperation to enhance capacity of the Vietnam Development Bank between theVietnam Finance Ministry and the Korea Development Bank (KDB).

The same day, Prime Minister Phuc and his entourage visited the VietnameseEmbassy 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 thatthe Vietnamese community will abide by local law, preserve the Vietnameseculture 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./.