Vietnam considers foreign business success as its own, while their losses are also the country’s.
| Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh at the meeting. Photos: Nhat Bac |
Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh stressed the view in a meeting with South Korean Ambassador Park Noh Wan and the South Korean business community in Vietnam on September 14.
“The Vietnamese Government shares concerns facing foreign companies at the moment due to the ongoing Covid-19 outbreak,” said Chinh, adding the authorities are committed to supporting them, including those from South Korea, to do long-term business in the country.
According to Chinh, the ongoing difficult situation is only temporary as Vietnam has been putting in place measures to contain the pandemic, and the government has set up a task force to address the concerns of the business community.
“The Government has issued a resolution providing support for businesses, cooperatives, and business households affected by the pandemic,” said Chinh.
On this occasion, Chinh expressed thanks for the support from the South Korean Government, people, and businesses for assisting Vietnam during the fight against the pandemic, especially in supplying vaccines and medical equipment.
Representatives of the South Korean businesses in Vietnam expressed their support for Vietnam’s ongoing efforts to both fighting the pandemic and boosting growth, expecting the country to soon overcome the current fourth outbreak as several localities have already done so such as Bac Ninh or Bac Giang.
South Korean companies, however, voiced their concern over the lack of articulate application of restriction measures to avoid disruption to the supply chains and movement of goods, while urging for simplification of the work permit issuance for foreign experts and urged more incentive tax policies.
| Prime Minister Chinh and delegates at the meeting. |
In this regard, Prime Minister Chinh said the Government has instructed provinces/cities to continue pushing for administrative reform and refrain from issuing additional conditions that could restrict the movement of goods.
“The priority is to ensure enterprises maintaining safe operation amid unpredictable pandemic situation,” he added.
According to Chinh, the Covid-19 pandemic is a global issue that requires a global approach. In this context, no country would be safe when others are still struggling with the issue.
Chinh said Vietnam would continue to provide vaccines free of charge for the people, and called for Ambassador Park and South Korean businesses to continue supplying vaccines for Vietnam to aid the country’s efforts.
Vietnam seeks to strengthen the bilateral strategic partnership and aims to raise trade turnover with South Korea to US$100 billion.
The prime minister expects South Korea to remain the largest investor in Vietnam and helps the country increase localization rate in the manufacturing sector.
Ambassador Park sent his thanks to the Government for supporting the foreign businesses at the moment, stressing South Korea continues to see Vietnam as an attractive investment destination.
“South Korean companies are committed to assisting Vietnam in the fight against the pandemic and expanding long-term investment and business operation in the country,” Park added.
South Korea is Vietnam’s fifth-largest export market in the first eight months of 2021 with US$13.9 billion, up 10% year-on-year. In return, Vietnam imported goods worth $34.6 billion from South Korea, or a surge of 20.5%. South Korea was the third-largest investor in Vietnam during the period with a combined registered capital of $2.4 billion, or 12.7% of the total, staying behind Singapore ($6.2 billion) and Japan ($3.2 billion). |
