Ways to boost the bilateral cooperation between Viet Nam and South Korea in digital transformation and smart urban area projects were put in the spotlight at the Friday seminar in Da Nang.

Mr. Ahn Min Sik, South Korean Consul General in Da Nang, delivers his remarks at the seminar

Hosted by the Consulate General of South Korea in Da Nang, the seminar had ‘Investment - Smart Urban Areas - South Korea-Viet Nam Digital Transformation’ as its theme.

In his remarks at the opening ceremony of the event, South Korean Consul General in Da Nang Ahn Min Sik said that 2022 marked the 30^th anniversary of the Viet Nam-South Korea diplomatic ties (December 22). At the same time, the two countries are working together towards the development of bilateral relations for the next 30 years.

This year, the Vietnamese and South Korean governments have together developed an overarching plan to catch up with the era of Industry 4.0 and accelerate digital transformation, with a focus on smart urban projects.

The Korean diplomat said his government has been making efforts to build smart cities since about 10 years ago. Therefore, South Korea has a lot of experience in this project.

In particular, the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA)-funded project to establish a smart city Central Viet Nam, including Da Nang, will open up more new opportunities for expanding cooperation relations between Central Viet Nam and South Korea.

Currently, a total of around 208 South Korean businesses are operating in Central Viet Nam. They have achieved many good results and gradually expanded in the field of industrial infrastructure in the region.

Mr. Ahn Min Sik said that he will devote all his efforts to expanding the cooperation relations between South Korea and Central Viet Nam in the coming time, especially in the fields of digital, smart cities and infrastructure.

Mr. Kim Woon Tae, the Director of Korea Trade and Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA) in Da Nang, speaking at the seminar

Mr. Kim Woon Tae, the Director of Korea Trade and Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA) in Da Nang under the Consulate General of South Korea in Da Nang, highly lauded Viet Nam for its meaningful achievements in such spheres as education, transportation and environment in key cities of Ha Noi, Ho Chi Minh City, and Da Nang. Especially, the Central Viet Nam boasts very favourable conditions for the development of smart city.

For example, Da Nang has secured its top position in the Viet Nam ICT Index, the ranking on the readiness for information and communications technology (ICT) development and applications, for many years. At the same time, KOICA has participated in the development of the smart city valley project in Central Viet Nam.

The smart city project is a complex project that combines information technology with many other fields such as construction, transportation and environment.

Meanwhile, South Korea has many years of experience in the high-tech field, whilst Viet Nam is a country that is actively promoting smart city development based on rapid development. Therefore, the project is considered to be a lever to promote cooperation relations between the two countries, especially in the field of technology.

In order to expand smart city cooperation between the two countries, in 2020, KOTRA opened the Smart City Cooperation Center at KOTRA Ha Noi. Starting from this year, the center was moved to KOTRA Da Nang to further strengthen cooperation with Central Viet Nam.

Accordingly, KOTRA Da Nang will continue to promote exchange projects between the information technology industry and related organizations between the two countries in order to contribute to improving the quality of bilateral economic cooperation.

Municipal People’s Committee Vice Chairman Ho Ky Minh speaking at the seminar

Speaking at the seminar, municipal People’s Committee Vice Chairman Ho Ky Minh highlighted the significance of the event in celebrating the 30^th anniversary of the Viet Nam-South Korea diplomatic.

He added South Korea is one of Viet Nam’s important partners in terms of politics, foreign affairs, economy, culture and people-to-people exchanges. Da Nang has been the most favourite destination for South Koreans.

As of late September, Da Nang welcomed an estimate of 146,080 South Korean visitors, accounting for 56.7% of the total number of international visitors to Da Nang and 27.3% of the total number of Korean visitors to Viet Nam.

South Korea is also the city’s leading import and export market. In the first nine months of 2022, the total import and export turnover between Da Nang and South Korea reached US$62 million and US$40 million, respectively. South Korea is now the fiftth largest foreign investor in Da Nang.

Vice Chairman Minh expressed his hope that, after the seminar, many South Korean companies would visit to seek investment and cooperation opportunities in Da Nang and Central Viet Nam as a whole. He pledged that the municipal government will create the most favorable conditions for Korean investors to effectively invest and operate in the locality.

Mr. Minh also hoped that in the coming time, the Consulate General of South Korea and KOTRA would encourage more businesses from their country to invest and seek business partners in Da Nang, thereby contribute to promoting the cooperation relationship between Da Nang and South Korea effectively and practically.

Reporting by M.QUE, C.THANG - Translating by M.DUNG