Hanoi eyes stronger ties with RoK’s localities
VOV.VN - Chairman of the Hanoi People’s Committee Tran Sy Thanh had a host of meetings with senior officials as well as representatives of several major enterprises of the Republic of Korea during his working visit to the Northeast Asian nation from October 19-22.
During his meeting with Speaker of the RoK's National Assembly (NA) Woo Won Shik, Thanh stated that the RoK represents the nation’s leading important partner across a variety of areas, ranking first in terms of direct foreign investment in Vietnam, second in provision of official development assistance (ODA), and third in trade.
The RoK is also the country’s largest source market of tourists, with over 1,000 direct flights monthly between the two, he said.
Thanh reiterated Hanoi’s commitment to nurturing ties with the RoK’s localities, thereby boosting co-operation in key areas such as the economy, tourism, culture, education, and environmental protection.
He therefore pledged to offer favourable conditions for Korean businesses and nationals in Hanoi, while also boosting cultural, locality-to-locality, and people-to-people exchanges and tourism ties, thereby deepening understanding and creating a foundation for the sustainable ties between the two nations.
Speaker Woo hailed the development of joint relations over the past 30 years, highlighting frequent high-level exchanges, including Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh’s visit to the RoK in July.
At a meeting held with leaders of Gyeonggi province, Thanh emphasized his current visit's aim is to augment substantive collaboration between Hanoi and local partners, particularly localities, including Gyeonggi, organizations, and businesses.
He therefore proposed enhanced linkages between the Hanoi-based Hoa Lac Hi-tech Park and Gyeonggi’s Urban Development Corporation, seeking to leverage the province’s expertise in managing advanced technology zones.
As part of the occasion, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed to set up the friendship and establish co-operation between the Hanoi People's Committee and Gyeonggi’s authorities in areas such as smart city development, urban planning, cultural heritage preservation, and climate change response.
The Hanoi leader and his entourage also met with Seoul Mayor Oh Se Hoon and City Council Chairwoman Choi Ho Jung on October 22, during which the hosts hailed the good friendship and co-operation that exists between the two capitals. He underlined the need to maintain the mechanism of exchanging information and experience in construction and development.
Mayor Oh proposed further collaboration in smart city development, digital transformation, and urban planning, with a particular focus on development along the Red River's banks.
Chairwoman Choi praised Hanoi’s recent development and expressed a wish that two sides will promote the effective implementation of the MoU on co-operation between the municipal people's councils of Hanoi and Seoul, signed in December last year. Both sides agreed to launch a broad array of events to celebrate the 30th anniversary of Hanoi-Seoul relations in 2026.
On October 21, the delegation of Hanoi participated in the Hanoi-RoK 2024 Investment and Trade Promotion Conference, as well as holding meetings with leading Korean firms.
