Hanoi's role is significant as Vietnam and South Korea continue cultivating their bilateral relations, which were elevated to a comprehensive strategic partnership during State President Nguyen Xuan Phuc's visit to the country early this month.

Secretary of the Hanoi Party Committee Dinh Tien Dung and South Korean Ambassador to Vietnam Oh Young Ju. Photos: The Hanoi Times

Newly-appointed South Korean Ambassador to Vietnam Oh Young Ju expressed the view during a meeting with Secretary of the Hanoi Party Committee Dinh Tien Dung today [December 14].

Dung expressed his satisfaction with the strong progress in Vietnam-South Korea relations, demonstrated by President Nguyen Xuan Phuc's state visit to South Korea and the elevation of the partnership to a comprehensive strategic status after 30 years of diplomatic relations.

According to Dung, the strong ties between the two countries are based on similarities in terms of geographical conditions, history, and culture.

South Korea is Vietnam's largest foreign investor and a major trade partner, while the two countries have maintained close cooperation in the fields of culture, labor, and tourism.

In Hanoi, this country remains the third largest investor, with registered capital of $120 million during the first ten months of 2022. He noted that the two sides had maintained close ties in tourism, culture, training, and education.

"Despite the serious impacts of Covid-19 in the past two years, the bilateral partnership is still on the rise," Dung said.

Overview of the meeting.

At the meeting, Dung noted Hanoi has now fully contained the Covid-19 pandemic and is on track to realize economic growth of 8.8% in 2022, the record rate in the past few years.

Other positive results included an estimated export growth rate of over 10%, FDI commitments of $1.2 billion, and the number of tourists coming to the capital of 18.7 million, a 3.7-fold increase against last year.

Dung said Hanoi is taking steps to ensure long-term and sustainable growth, including the development of master plans until 2030, with a vision to 2050, and investment in major transport projects.

“Other priorities for Hanoi in the coming time would be education, healthcare, and culture,” he continued.

With a network of 5,922 cultural-historical heritage, Dung suggested the preservation and promotion of heritage value would not only help maintain the city’s cultural treasures but to serve as a driving force for sustainable development.

“Hanoi targets to become a growth engine for the Red River Delta and the country overall while taking steps to become a global city in long the term,” Dung added.

Ambassador Oh highlighted Hanoi’s success in the Covid-19 fight and during the socioeconomic development process.

She compared Hanoi's role in Vietnam's development to that of Seoul in South Korea.

"With its great potential and openness, Hanoi will continue to drive Vietnam's progress," Oh added.

Sharing Dung's view on boosting the development of education, healthcare, and culture, Oh suggested that South Korea could contribute to this process.

Wrapping up the meeting, Dung said Hanoi is determined to deepen bilateral relations to reflect the Vietnam-South Korea comprehensive strategic partnership.