At the ceremony (Photo: VNA) Hanoi (VNA) – The Vietnam Union of Friendship Organisations (VUFO) held aceremony in Hanoi on December 20 celebrating the 30th anniversary ofVietnam-Republic of Korea (RoK) diplomatic ties.
In her speech, Vietnamese Vice President Vo Thi Anh Xuan said the friendly ties between Vietnam and the RoK date back to many centuries ago. Through ups and downs in history, Vietnam and the RoK officially established theirdiplomatic ties on December 22, 1992, opening up a new chapter in theirrelationship.
She hailed the RoK as the biggest foreign investor in Vietnam,the second biggest partner in terms of official development assistance, labourand tourism and the third biggest in trade. In return, Vietnam is the biggesteconomic partner of the RoK in ASEAN, accounting for 30% of the totalinvestment and 50% of the total trade between the RoK and ASEAN.
At present, there are about 200,000 expatriates from eachcountry living, studying and working in the other country, including about 80,000Vietnamese-Korean multicultural families. About 70 pairs of localities haveestablished cooperative ties while nearly 2,000 flights per month connectthe two countries’ localities. Korean cultural, art, film, food, and fashionprogrammes are very popular in Vietnam. The Vietnamese cuisine and culture arealso becoming wider known in the RoK, she said.
The Vice President recalled that the RoK was one of the first countries toprovide vaccines and medical equipment for Vietnam in the fight againstCOVID-19. Vietnam also creates favourable conditions for Korean firms to expandoperations in the country, ensuring the stability of supply chains amid theglobal economic downturn.
"The Vietnam-RoK relationship is a model of success based on political trust, dynamic, flexible and sustainable economic cooperation and close people-to-people exchange," she stressed.
VUFO President Ambassador Nguyen Phuong Nga pledged that VUFOand the Vietnam-RoK Friendship Association, as the core of people-to-people exchange between the two countries, will strive to perform their bridging roleand work closely with Korean partners and mass organisations to effectivelycarry out agreements reached by leaders, step up people-to-people and cultural-art-sportexchanges, facilitate economic-trade and tourism activities, and help withhumanitarian and charity projects in support of Vietnam-RoK multiculturalfamilies, Vietnamese and Korean communities in each nation.
The RoK Ambassador to Vietnam, Oh Young-ju, said bilateral ties have reached an unprecedented level during just 30 years. He expressed his firmbelief that the event affords both sides a chance to reaffirm their deepfriendship and celebrate the bright future they will step toward./.
