The President of the HCM City Chapter of the Vietnam-RoK Friendship Association Vu Van Hoa and Consul General to HCM City Kim Sang Yoon stated this at a ceremony in the city on Oct. 6 to mark the 4,341 st anniversary of the RoK founding (Oct. 3).

 

Since 1992, the RoK has been a large investor in Vietnam providing nearly 19 billion USD of registered capital. Two-way trade turnover hit nearly 10 billion USD.

 

Cooperation in tourism between the two countries has also developed well with approximately 500,000 people visiting each other countries each year.

 

At present, over 50,000 Vietnamese workers are working in the RoK while thousands of Vietnamese students are studying in the country.

 

The RoK invested in 700 projects valued at nearly 3 billion USD in HCM City between 1998-2008.

 

About 30,000 Korean people are living and working in the city and they are making active contributions to the city’s development and bilateral relations between both countries.

 

For many years, the HCM City Chapter of the Vietnam-RoK Friendship Association has launched various programmes to support RoK businesses operating in Vietnam and acts as a bridge between RoK businesses and the city’s authorities, enabling Korean entrepreneurs to operate more effectively.

 

The association has also held many cultural programmes in coordination with organisations from the RoK to promote the cultures of each country.

 

Consul General Kim spoke highly of these efforts and confirmed HCM City’s important role in RoK-Vietnam relations.