Korean
investments into Vietnam began in 2001 and have since continued to grow, a
Vietnamese official from the Vietnam – Korea Friendship Society told Tuoi Tre.
Duong Chinh Thuc, deputy chairman of the
society and a former ambassador to Korea, said the East Asian country had taken
only 10 years to become the largest foreign investor in Vietnam with over US$23
billion in 3,000 projects.
Bilateral trade was targeted to reach $20
billion by 2015.
Many Korean businesses had told him that they
wanted to focus on project quality and technology transfer rather than just
numbers.
For instance, Samsung had a mobile-phone plant
in the northern province of Bac Ninh and wanted to make more high-technology
products in Vietnam.
“This is a chance for Vietnam to take part in
the global value chain of this giant company.”
One crucial factor that encouraged Korean
businesses to invest in Vietnam was the close diplomatic ties between the two
countries.
Similar cultural values also helped.
“A friend of mine, a former Korean ambassador
in Vietnam, has chosen to stay in Vietnam after his term.
“The Korean business community is one of the
largest foreign communities in Vietnam.”
But to cope with the investment flow from
Korea into high-technology, Vietnam had many tasks to accomplish.
“Vietnam used to have the advantage of a
low-cost workforce, but this will now become our challenge.
“We need to have a skilled and qualified workforce
to attract investment in the technology sector, and this is when the low-cost
workforce becomes a challenge.”
The country also had to improve its
infrastructure and support industries to meet the needs of the Korean partners.
“Most of all, the tortuous paperwork and red
tape still bother Korean businesses.”
A problem that needed to be resolved was the
large trade deficit with Korea, which had topped $6.7 billion last year.
Though Korean businesses said the gap had been
caused mostly by machinery and raw material imports by Korean investors, the
two countries still had to find for an appropriate solution for this.
“We will also seek to boost consumption of
Vietnamese seafood and agricultural products in Korea.”
TUOI TRE
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