1. The Republic of Korea and Vietnam held the 16th meeting of the Joint Economic Committee in Seoul on October 24. With the year 2017 marking the 25th anniversary of diplomatic relations, the two countries reviewed the progress in overall economic cooperation in the areas of trade, investment, infrastructure, finance and development, and discussed ways to work more closely together.

° Also discussed were ways to step up cooperation in various other fields, including agriculture, environment, pharmaceuticals, science, technology, information and communications technology (ICT), and judicial matters.

※ The ROK and Vietnamese head delegates to the meeting were Deputy Foreign Minister for Economic Affairs Yun Kang-hyeon and Deputy Minister Nguyen The Phuong of the Vietnamese Ministry of Planning and Investment.

※ The ROK-Vietnam Joint Economic Committee is a consultative mechanism regularly convened for comprehensive discussions on bilateral economic issues pursuant to the bilateral “Agreement on Economic and Technical Cooperation” concluded in 1993.

2. At the 16th meeting of the ROK-Vietnam Joint Economic Committee, the two sides reviewed the progress in the implementation of main measures for economic cooperation discussed at the bilateral summit talks held on the sidelines of the G20 summit in July 2017. They also discussed in detail major issues with regard to boosting bilateral trade and investment and expanding industrial cooperation in such sectors as manufacturing, finance and infrastructure.

° The ROK side relayed to the Vietnamese side Korean companies’ request concerning their bid to build presence and boost investment in Vietnam, asking for the Vietnamese government’s attention and support in that regard.

- The ROK side asked that the Vietnamese government cooperate, including by lowering tariffs on auto parts, offering tax incentives to companies operating in the ROK-Vietnam Incubator Park, supporting bids of Korean financiers to build presence in Vietnam and accepting surety bond collaterals, and raising the conversion rate in calculating profit from a thermoelectric power plant in Vietnam.

° Deputy Minister Phuong noted with appreciation that Korean companies are investing robustly in Vietnam, making the ROK the top investor in the country. He added that the Vietnamese government will pay keen attention to the aforementioned request from the ROK side and render assistance.

- The Vietnamese side, in order to narrow the country’s trade deficit with the ROK, asked that the ROK government increase imports of tropical fruits and other agricultural and livestock products from Vietnam and streamline the relevant import permit procedure; and support bids of Vietnamese companies to join the global value chain, including by expanding the localization of materials and parts of Korean companies operating in the country.

° In response to the Vietnamese side’s concern over its trade deficit with the ROK, the latter side attributed the deficit to the trade structure, where Korean companies have increased subsidiary material imports from the ROK. The ROK side added that the two countries should step up cooperation in diverse industries, which, in turn, will help Vietnam build manufacturing capability and ease the trade imbalance in the mid to long term.

3. The two sides took note of the fact that the ROK and its main official development assistance (ODA) partner are continually increasing development cooperation with grant aids and through the Economic Development Cooperation Fund (EDCF). They agreed to make efforts to move development cooperation projects successfully forward in transportation, education and various other sectors.

° The Vietnamese side extended appreciation to the ROK over the contribution of the latter’s ODA projects to socio-economic development of Vietnam.

4. With the year 2017 marking the 25th anniversary of diplomatic relations, the 16th meeting of the ROK-Vietnam Joint Economic Committee is seen to have served as a useful opportunity to review the progress in bilateral economic cooperation and to discuss ways to work together to become partners for sustainable, shared prosperity.


* unofficial translation