Illustrative image (Source: VNA)The Baekdu Forum 2022 was jointly held by the VietnamChamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) and the Korea Federation of Small andMedium Business (KBIZ) with the support of the Saigon Telecommunication &Technologies Corporation (SaigonTel).
With reasonable labour costs and efforts in bilateraltrade agreements, Vietnam is expected to be a suitable option for Korean firmsin the time ahead, said Nguyen Cam Phuong, a representative from SaigonTel.
Vietnam is now a safe, attractive destination forinvestors from 141 countries and territories, with more than 34,000 projectsworth some 400 billion USD, she continued, stressing that the RoK remains theleading investor in the Southeast Asian nation and ranks second in terms oftrade with the revenue reaching about 90 billion USD this year.
The RoK has been also the biggest source of touriststo Vietnam this year, Phuong said, adding the two sides have seen in-depthcollaboration in other spheres like banking-finance, infrastructure, transport,IT, science-technology, agro-forestry-fishery, education-training, culture andpeople-to-people exchange.
Vietnam was named among the world’s top 20 hosteconomies for foreign direct investment (FDI) for the first time in 2020 by theUN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), she noted.
SaigonTel wishes to continue working as a bridge forKorean investors in Vietnam, helping the country integrate more intensively inthe regional and global supply chains and corporate ecosystems, Phuong said.
According to KBIZ Chairman Kim Ki-mun, the two-waytrade skyrocketed from nearly 500 million USD in 1992 when Vietnam and the RoKestablished diplomatic ties to around 90 billion USD at present.
The 8,800 Korean firms operating in Vietnam are SMEs.Meanwhile in the RoK, SMEs make up more than 99% of the total businesses, and employ up to 90% of the workforce.
The federation is closely coordinating with theVietnamese Ministry of Planning and Investment to create optimal conditions andoffer incentives to Korean SMEs in Vietnam in various fields, he said./.
VNA
