Vietnam urges Korean firms to develop specialized parks for SMEs
Vietnam urges Korean firms to develop specialized parks for SMEs
Vietnam has encouraged South Korean firms to invest in specialized industrial parks targeting Korean and Vietnamese small- and medium-d enterprises (SMEs), stated Deputy Prime Minister Vuong Dinh Hue.
The senior Cabinet leader made the statement at a meeting with Chairman of the Korea Federation of SMEs (K-BIZ) Kim Ki-mun in Hanoi on Thursday, reported the Government news website.
He suggested the K-BIZ collaborate with Vietnam’s Ministry of Planning and Investment and relevant governments to select locations and methods to execute such projects.
If any issues are beyond their authority, they should be reported to Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc for consideration, he added.
He also called on the business federation to assist Vietnam in improving the expertise and professional skills of local workers.
South Korea is one of the largest foreign investors in Vietnam with total registered capital of US$65 billion. Korean firms play an important role in the Vietnamese economy, according to Deputy PM Hue.
He added that the bilateral trade turnover amounted to US$64 billion last year, and the figure is expected to hit US$100 billion by 2020.
He also pointed out that the Politburo, Vietnam’s most important decisionmaking body, had recently passed a resolution on policy orientations and measures to enhance the quality and efficiency of foreign direct investment (FDI) toward 2030.
Furthermore, the Government will devise an action plan to put the resolution into effect over the next decade.
The Government will further attract FDI and offer high incentives for projects that use modern and environmentally friendly technology and to investors with strong management skills who are willing to connect with local firms, he noted.
He added that the Government will submit the revised Law on Investment to the National Assembly at the legislature’s upcoming sitting in October 2019. The law focuses on streamlining policies to attract FDI, protect investment, strengthen State management, promote foreign investment and ensure international integration.
For his part, Kim Ki-mun stated that the South Korean government is constructing industrial parks in other countries, based on its New Southern Policy.
This policy aims to better connect South Korea with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and expand the economic influence of Asia’s fourth-largest economy in the region, home to more than half a billion people.
In addition to Myanmar, Vietnam is a destination that Korean firms are eyeing for these industrial parks, he remarked.
Some 47,000 Vietnamese laborers are working in the North Asian country, and the demand for these workers is increasing, requiring them to enhance their skills, according to the official.
He also urged the Vietnamese Government to relax rules on overtime working hours to meet the needs and interests of both employers and workers.
In response, Deputy PM Hue said the Vietnamese Government has proposed the legislative body consider extending the overtime working hours for some industries, such as garments, textiles, footwear and processing of seasonal agricultural products.
A hike in the retirement age of both male and female employees is also on the table, he added.
In 2013, the K-BIZ struck an agreement with the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry. The business federation has so far opened a representative office in HCMC – one of its two offices overseas.
