At the MoU signing ceremony (Photo: VNA)

The conference, chaired by Finance Minister Ho Duc Phoc, attracted the participation of representatives from more than 300 companies of the two countries.

Phoc said that the participation of a large number of businesses and investors is clear evidence of the Vietnamese Government’s efforts to create a favourable and attractive business and investment environment for foreign businesses and investors, especially those from the RoK.

Vietnam is the RoK’s third largest trade partner, with two-way trade hitting nearly 80 billion USD last year. The RoK ranks first among foreign investors in Vietnam, with 9,863 investment projects totalling around 90 billion USD and over 8,000 companies operating in the Southeast Asian nation.

Last year, Vietnam also welcomed more than 3.5 million Korean holiday-makers, and there are currently 180,000 Koreans living in the country.

The minister said he believes the goal of raising two-way trade to 150 billion USD in a balanced and sustainable direction by 2030 is reachable.

He highlighted the rapid development of Vietnam's stock market, which had a capitalisation value of nearly 270 billion USD, equivalent to nearly 63% of the GDP. He cited Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh's pledge at a conference on the stock market development in late February to develop a transparent, safe, effective and sustainable stock market and ensure legitimate rights and interests of stakeholders.

Phoc expressed his belief that this conference will open up greater opportunities for cooperation and prosperous development between the two countries in general and their businesses and investors in particular, especially in the field of financial market.

The Ministry of Finance is committed to accompanying and creating favourable conditions for partners, businesses and investors of the two countries to seek investment and cooperation opportunities that bring the highest efficiency, and welcomes Korean businesses and investors to invest more and expand their investment scale in Vietnam, he added.

Kim Yong-Jae, Standing Commissioner of the Korean Financial Services Commission (FSC), said that in the financial sector, Vietnam ranks second in the world in terms of the presence of RoK financial institutions, with 46 institutions in the fields of banking, insurance, and securities.

He shared that many large Korean corporations and businesses such as Samsung, LG, and Hyundai see Vietnam's growth potential and have reaped rewards after investing early in the Vietnamese market. Korean financial institutions are also investing in Vietnam in many different forms such as establishing legal entities, and mergers and acquisitions.

According to Kim, the Korean economy has entered a mature stage, with population aging occurring strongly, which makes investing in promising Vietnamese businesses a great alternative to overcome the decline in investment yields of Korean companies and financial institutions.

At the same time, this investment process will become a solid stepping stone to further strengthen the driving force for Vietnam's economic growth, he stressed.

Within the framework of the conference, the Vietnamese Ministry of Finance also organised a dialogue with businesses to inform them about Vietnam’s important macro-economic policies and mechanisms to attract investment into the Vietnamese capital market, green finance and the process of upgrading Vietnam's stock market from a frontier status to an emerging one.

On this occasion, SSC Chairperson Vu Thi Chan Phuong and Kim Yong-Jae, who represents the Korea Financial Investment Association, signed a memorandum of understanding on cooperation consultations and technical assistance./.