Korean companies operating in Viet Nam are seeking more and more workers as their investment continues to rise sharply, according to the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (Kotra).

At a Korea-Viet Nam job fair that opened on Friday in HCM City, 47 Korean firms in sectors like retail, manufacturing, construction, logistics, IT, and banking took part and hired Vietnamese and Koreans for positions such as production manager, HR administrator, interpreter, import and export and site manager, accountant, engineer, sales and marketing executives and others, with the largest demand being for sales and marketing personnel.

The companies include Lotte Mart, Lock & Lock, Lotte PK Duty Free, Kumho Tire, Industrial Bank of Korea, Wooribank Vietnam, INZI Vina, Sung Hyun Vina Daekwang International, who are mainly based in HCM City, Binh Duong, Long An, Dong Nai, and Tay Ninh.

Nearly 1,800 Vietnamese job hopefuls took part in the fair.

Talking about Vietnamese workers, Yoon Joo Young, Kotra’s director general in HCM City, said: “They are very diligent. They co-operate very well with Koreans. I think this is a very good point for Vietnamese employees to be employed by Korean investors /companies here.”

"But they need to improve their technical skills," he said.

According to the Foreign Investment Agency, South Korea is the biggest foreign investor in Viet Nam with a cumulative US$61.7 billion in 6,957 projects, accounting for nearly 19 per cent of FDI.

An increasing number of Korean firms are investing in Viet Nam, and they require a large number of workers in many sectors, according to Yoon.

More than 700,000 Vietnamese work for Korean companies now.

Organised by Kotra and the South Korean consulate general in HCM City, the fair has been held every year since 2013. — VNS