South Korean firms are seeking to expand investment in Vietnam as they see evident improvement in the business environment which is largely created by effective policies over the past years. 
Deputy PM Trinh Dinh Dung meets Head of EDCF Kim Tae Soo in Seoul on Dec 4. Photo: Chinh Phu
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South Korean investors are interested in infrastructure, logistics, manufacturing, automobile, agriculture, and food processing, said Kim Tae Soo, head of the Economic Development Cooperation Fund (EDCF).
Thanks for substantial movements, South Korea takes the lead among Vietnam’s investors with US$60 billion as of 2018 with the operations of giant corporations namely Samsung, LG, Hyundai Motor, SK, Lotte, POSCO, CJ, Hanwha, LH Corp, Shinhan, Kumho, and Hyosung.
South Korea’s investment commitments in Vietnam hit more than US$8 billion in 2018, accounting for one fourth of the East Asian country’s outbound investment in the year.
The South Korean government has considered Vietnam the key pillar in its “Look South” policy and in linkage to the Southeast Asia, Europe, and the Americas. Therefore, Vietnam’s better business environment has brought a pulse in South Korea’s overseas investment, Kim said.
The EDCF will speed up the disbursement of soft loans to help Vietnam conduct projects under the public-private partnership (PPP), he added.
The deputy PM’s visit also focuses on strengthening the friendship between the two countries. The Vietnamese community in South Korea plays an important role in tightening the relationship and helps pushing up investment inflows into Vietnam, the deputy PM told President of the RoK-Vietnam Friendship Association Choi Young-joo at the meeting.
