Minister of Foreign Affairs Bui Thanh Son and his Republic of Korea (RoK) counterpart Chung Eui-yong. (Photo: VNA) They agreed on major cooperation activities in 2022,including the celebration of the 30th anniversary of the bilateraldiplomatic ties, the upgrading of the relationship to a comprehensive strategicpartnership, the organisation of visits and meetings between senior leaders ofthe two countries, and the implementation of the existing cooperation mechanismsto bring about pragmatic interests to both sides.
Chung stressed the significance of Son’s official visitto the RoK, which, he said, opens up activities marking the 30th anniversary of the diplomatic relations, and offers an opportunity for the two sidesto look into orientations to deepen the relationship.
For his part, Son affirmed that Vietnam attaches greatimportance and wishes to boost cooperation with the RoK intensively andextensively, and suggested the two countries further utilise the existingcooperation mechanisms in diplomacy, national defence and security.
At the same time, the two sides should work to improvethe efficiency of collaboration in economy, trade and investment, striving to raisethe two-way trade to 100 billion USD by 2023 and 150 billion USD by 2030, hesaid.
The minister noted his hope that Korean firms willexpand their investment in Vietnam, especially in high-tech, renewable energy,digital transformation and future industries, transfer technologies and buildresearch and development (R&D) centres in Vietnam.
He called on the RoK to consider giving more big loanswith incentives to major infrastructure and climate change projects in Vietnam.
Son also suggested deepening cooperation in labour,tourism, education and people-to-people exchange.
To facilitate the travelling of citizens andbusinesses of the two countries and contribute to achieving the dual goals ofCOVID-19 containment and economic development in each country, Son called forthe RoK’s early recognition of Vietnam’s vaccine passport, and the country’s furthersupport in the pandemic fight.
He suggested the RoK create more favourable conditionsfor Vietnamese in the host country, especially Vietnam-RoK multicultural families.
Reaffirming Vietnam as a leading important partner ofthe RoK, Chung said achievements recorded after the establishment of the diplomaticties three decades ago would create a firm foundation for the bilateral relationshipto move forward in the time ahead.
He presented specific proposals to deepen cooperationin politics-diplomacy, national defence-security, economy-trade, healthcare-science-technology, culture and people-to-people exchange.
The RoK’s Foreign Ministry will continue closecoordination with its Vietnamese counterpart and other relevant ministries topractically contribute to boosting the strategic cooperative partnership in thecoming time.
The two minsters also shared views on regional andinternational issues.
Son congratulated the RoK on the successful organisationof the first ministerial meeting of the Organisation for Economic Cooperationand Development (OECD)-run Southeast Asia Regional Programme (SEARP) on February 9, excellently fulling its role as co-chair of the programme in2018-2022.
Vietnam will work harder to uphold its role as coordinatorof the ASEAN-RoK relations and join hands to foster the relations, towards the35th anniversary of the relations in 2024, he affirmed.
The two sides consented to step up coordination atmultilateral forums and mechanisms, particularly the United Nations.
At the talks (Photo: VNA) The minister expressed his hope that Vietnam and theRoK would persistently keep their positive stance on maintaining peace,stability and legal order at sea, respecting freedom of navigation andoverflight, and settling disputes in the East Sea by peaceful measures in lineinternational law, including the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law ofthe Sea (UNCLOS).
He called for support to ASEAN and China in building asubstantive, effective and efficient Code of Conduct in the East Sea (COC) inaccordance with international law, 1982 UNCLOS.
Son is on an official visit to the RoK fromFebruary 9-11 at the invitation of his RoK counterpart Chung Eui-yong.
Also on February 10, he met with the President of the RoK- Vietnam Friendship Association and the President of the Korean cultural developmentassociation, and visited the Vietnamese Embassy in the RoK./.
VNA
