South Korea has become Viet Nam’s largest foreign investor, Vietnamese Deputy Minister of Planning and Investment Nguyen The Phuong said at a bilateral investment conference in Ha Noi on Tuesday.

The East Asian country currently has 4,459 projects in Viet Nam, with a total registered capital of US$39.16 billion, Phuong said at the Viet Nam-Korea Investment Forum, jointly held by his ministry and the ASEAN-Korea Center (AKC).

Officials are pictured at the Viet Nam - Korea Investment Forum in Hanoi on July 14, 2015.

More than 240 South Korean projects, with a total registered investment of $16 billion, are in the electronics industry, greatly contributing to the Southeast Asian country’s economic growth and trade-balance stability, Deputy Minister Phuong said.

There are now more than 4,400 South Korean businesses operating in Viet Nam, mostly in footwear, apparel and light industries.

Viet Nam is the fourth largest outbound market of South Korea, behind the U.S., China and Hong Kong.

(Source: tuoitrenews)