South Korea is Vietnam’s biggest source of foreign investment and one of its top trading partners, with two-way commerce topping US$90 billion last year.
Lee’s visit showed “high political trust” between the two countries, Lam said during the meeting at the presidential palace.
“Vietnam welcomes South Korean companies to make new investments and expand existing projects, with a focus on the development of infrastructure, smart cities, semiconductors, artificial intelligence (AI) data centres, nuclear power, smart seaports,” the Vietnamese leader said.
It was the second meeting in less than a year between the two Asian leaders, following Lam’s visit to Seoul in August.
After today’s agreements, South Korea’s Lee said that with geopolitical uncertainty at “unprecedented heights” and technological competition intensifying, “we hope that the peoples, businesses and governments of both countries will build on the quantitative achievements we have forged together”.
Cooperation for development
Hanoi wants more South Korean investment in infrastructure, advanced electronics manufacturing, semiconductors, AI and renewable energy.
Among the agreements signed today was a framework for a Vietnam-South Korea “master plan on cooperation in science, technology and innovation”.
Other agreements dealt with digital cooperation, intellectual property and the development of nuclear power plants.
Lam, who became president this month in addition to Communist Party boss, is pushing a “new growth model” that prioritises digital and technological innovation as Vietnam aims to escape the “middle-income trap”.
The World Bank said in its 2024 development report that countries usually hit such a “trap” when they reach around 10% of annual US GDP per capita, which can prove tough to move past.
Vietnam and South Korea have set a target of achieving US$150 billion in bilateral trade by 2030.
South Korean giant Samsung is Vietnam’s largest foreign corporate investor, having sunk more than US$23 billion into the Southeast Asian country, according to the finance ministry.
Samsung Electronics is planning to invest another US$4 billion in a chip packaging factory in northern Thai Nguyen province, according to recent reports.