Vietnamese Ambassador to the RoK Nguyen Vu Tung (Photo: VNA)Vietnamese Ambassador to the RoK Nguyen Vu Tung said theelevation of bilateral relations not only reflects and acknowledges the greatachievements in bilateral ties over the past 30 years, but also demonstratesthe political will and strategic vision of leaders of the two countries, creatinga framework and defining the orientation for the development of bilateral tiesin the time ahead.
The move also contributes to strengthening trust and deepening shared interestsbetween Vietnam and the RoK, Tung said, affirming that bilateral ties will seestronger development across the fields, first of all politics, diplomacy andsecurity-defence, secondly economy (trade and investment) in both traditionaland new aspects, and thirdly cultural-social and people-to-people exchanges,especially labourers, students and tourists.
The diplomat held that the upgraded ties also brings more opportunities for thetwo countries to bolster cooperation in multilateral forums, particularly theASEAN and the UN.
Prof LeeHan-woo from Sogang University expressed his joy at the elevation ofVietnam-RoK ties and said cultural exchanges should be further promoted,particularly between young generations of the two countries.
He noted that Koreanculture has become widely known in Vietnam, but it is not the case withVietnamese culture in the RoK, and expressed a hope that a Vietnamese culturalcentre will soon be opened in the RoK.
Meanwhile, Prof. Park Bun-soonfrom the Korea University pointed to some outstanding issues in bilateralrelations, first of all Vietnam’s big trade deficit with the RoK. He said theproblem should be considered in a more systematic manner now that bilateralrelations have been lifted, suggesting that the RoK could import moreagricultural and fishery products from Vietnam, and RoK enterprises operating inVietnam should consider buying more materials for their production.
He also held that despite RoK enterprises’ great investment in Vietnam, thetransfer of advanced technology to Vietnam has not met expectation. The scholarproposed that the State should regulate this field as it is not easy for enterprisesto share their technology which is the key to competition. On the Vietnameseside, the professor said the country should invest more in research anddevelopment (R&D) and research institutes, and direct ODA capitalinto this field.
Park went on to say that Vietnam has good capacity ininformation technology but the RoK has not noticed this fact. He urged the twocountries to discuss further cooperation in this field./.
VNA
