(MPI) - Minister of Planning and Investment Nguyen Chi Dung hosted a reception for Chairman of the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) Chang Won Sam in Hanoi on March 19, during which he highly appreciated the cooperation results between Vietnam and South Korea in general, and KOICA in particular, and suggesting South Korea to continue increasing the scale of non-refundable aid to Vietnam, especially in innovation, green growth and man power training.

At the reception. Photo: MPI

Minister Dung emphasised that Vietnam and South Korea enjoyed a sound and long-standing traditional friendship, currently at its best developmental phase. Vietnam hopes that South Korea and personally KOICA continue to support and increase the scale of non-refundable aid for Vietnam, especially in fields like digital transformation, green growth and man power training.

He asked for support in enhancing the competitiveness of both businesses and the economy for deeper integration into the value chain, aiming for breakthroughs and acceleration in the coming time; promoting poverty reduction, high-tech agriculture, circular economy; and fostering the development of priority industries of the Vietnam National Innovation Center (NIC) as well as supporting the development of human resources in the semiconductor industry by 2030, vison to 2045, aiming to train 50,000 engineers by 2030.

The minister also proposed KOICA consider urging the Korean Government to have official commitment to the rural power supply project from the national grid in Vietnam’s Dien Bien province. He affirmed that his ministry would closely coordinate with relevant agencies in implementing the procedures to reach the project’s objectives.

KOICA Chairman expressed his impression of Vietnam’s strong development, including significant contributions from the MPI. He affirmed that Vietnam is an important partner of South Korea and KOICA in particular, and is always ready to cooperate and accompany Vietnam in achieving the set goals.

Sam mentioned that his trip aimed to evaluate the implementation of KOICA’s projects in Vietnam and discuss with the Vietnamese side about the cooperation direction to concretise the ODA commitments for the 2024-2027 period. The Korean Government will increase the scale of non-refundable aid for some countries, with Vietnam being a top priority partner; it is expected that the ODA from South Korea for Vietnam will increase to more than 52 million USD in 2024, nearly 50% higher than the figure last year.

In recent times, KOICA’s ODA projects in Vietnam have focused on public administration, health care and education. KOICA are considering expand to new areas based on Vietnam’s needs, such as climate change adaptation and digital transformation./.

Minisry of Planning and Investment