“Korea has surpassed China to become the largest source of tourists to Vietnam in the post-Covid period from 2022 to present, and ranked 3rd in Vietnam's labor export market." This notable information was shared at the Vietnam-Korea Plus Partnership Week 2024, organized by KOTRA (Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency) in Ho Chi Minh City recently.

In 2023, Korea recruited nearly 11,000 Vietnamese workers. It is expected that about 13,000 Vietnamese workers will continue to participate in this market in 2024.

In fact, Vietnam and Korea have established diverse mechanisms and frameworks for cooperation, including multi-sectoral and specialized, multilateral and bilateral cooperation, such as the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM), the Mekong-Korea cooperation mechanism, etc.

Bilateral trade has also seen remarkable growth, from 500 million USD in the first year of diplomatic relations to 87 billion USD in 2022 and 76 billion USD in 2023.

In the first half of 2024, the trade turnover between the two countries reached nearly 39 billion USD. Both countries aim to reach a turnover of 150 billion USD by 2030.

On the other hand, South Korea is also Vietnam's No. 1 partner in foreign direct investment and Vietnam's second-largest ODA donor country.

According to KOTRA, Vietnam accounts for about 20% of Korea's total aid. Priority areas for receiving South Korean ODA include urban transport infrastructure, education and training, environment, clean energy, and information technology. For example, last June, the two sides signed a cooperation agreement for the 2023-2030 period worth 2 billion USD to implement large-scale development projects in Vietnam’s transportation and urban infrastructure.

As of the end of 2023, the South Korean government's non-refundable aid to Vietnam through KOICA (Korea International Cooperation Agency) had reached approximately 600 million USD, and concessional loans through EDCF (Economic Development Cooperation Fund) had reached nearly 2.6 billion USD.

Regarding investment, as of June 2024, total direct investment from South Korea to Vietnam had reached nearly 87.5 billion USD, with more than 10,000 investment projects. Investment in the manufacturing and processing industry accounted for nearly 3/4 of the total registered capital and nearly 1/2 of the total number of projects.

Notably, the industry in general is a spearhead of economic development. Specifically, in Ho Chi Minh City, leaders emphasized that industry is a new driving force to promote national growth as well as improve product quality for the domestic market. The city’s leaders will also hold a dialogue with 58 sister cities to participate in the development plan this coming September.

In the first half of 2024, Ho Chi Minh City's industrial sector reached over 152,800 billion VND, an increase of 5.64% compared to the same period in 2023. Accordingly, the industrial sector is the second-largest sector in terms of economic size in the city, contributing about 18% of GDP.

According to the industrial development strategy to 2030, vision to 2050, Ho Chi Minh City aims to develop in depth, with high technology, new materials, green energy, and sustainable development.