Vietnam, S.Korea aim for $150bn in bilateral trade by 2030

During his official visit to Vietnam and attendance at the fourth Partnering for Green Growth and the Global Goals 2030 (P4G) Summit, Minister Cho met with Vietnamese State President Luong Cuong in Hanoi on Wednesday.

President Cuong expressed satisfaction with the achievements since the establishment of diplomatic relations over 30 years ago, particularly following the upgrade to a comprehensive strategic partnership in December 2022.

He thanked South Korea, a founding member of P4G, for its active support in organizing Vietnam's first successful multilateral green growth summit.

The head of state emphasized the untapped potential for deeper collaboration and urged efforts to achieve a balanced and sustainable trade target of $150 billion by 2030.

According to South Korea’s official statistics, bilateral trade between South Korea and Vietnam reached $86.7 billion in 2024, marking a 9.2-percent year-on-year increase and positioning Vietnam as South Korea's third-largest trading partner for the third consecutive year, following China and the U.S.

President Cuong also suggested that South Korea share its expertise in developing the entertainment industry and increase quotas for Vietnamese workers, expanding the range of sectors open to Vietnamese labor.

Additionally, he called for promoting people-to-people exchanges between the two countries to help foster stronger connections with the over 200,000 expatriates residing, studying, and working in each nation.

Minister Cho highlighted Vietnam as a key partner in South Korea's foreign policy in the region. He expressed a strong desire to collaborate with Vietnam to further advance the comprehensive strategic partnership across all sectors in the near future.

The minister hoped that Vietnam would continue to support Korean businesses and citizens in the Southeast Asian country.

In discussions on international and regional issues of mutual concern, both sides agreed to maintain close cooperation and support each other at multilateral forums, especially amid the current complex regional and global situation.

On the same day, Minister Cho met with Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, who underscored the importance of South Korea's preferential loans for strategic infrastructure projects in Vietnam, including the railway project connecting Vietnam with Laos.

PM Chinh proposed that South Korea further open its market to Vietnamese goods to reduce the trade deficit for Vietnam and strengthen technology transfer, particularly core and source technologies, to Vietnam.

He also requested support in training high-quality human resources and fostering the development of Vietnam's cultural and entertainment industries.

PM Chinh expressed appreciation for the efforts of the South Korean government and people in maintaining political and social stability, as well as in fostering foreign relations.

He conveyed confidence that the South Korean government would soon achieve stability again and continue to develop robustly in the future.

Chinh affirmed that Vietnam would continue to cooperate closely with South Korea's new government in the coming time.

Minister Cho reiterated that Vietnam is a focal partner in both South Korea’s ASEAN policy and Indo-Pacific strategy.

He agreed with PM Chinh’s suggestions for boosting cooperation and pledged to facilitate the effective implementation of high-level agreements, including the action program for the Vietnam-South Korea comprehensive strategic partnership.