The signing ceremony of the cooperation agreement between Bắc Giang Province and South Chungcheong Province. — VNS Photo

Bắc Giang Province will continue to strengthen cooperation with the Republic of Korea (RoK), Director of the provincial Department of Foreign Affairs Ngô Biên Cương said.

To strengthen local-level cooperation, the authority will deploy cooperation agreements with Seo District of Daejeon, South Chungcheong Province. The districts, cities, and towns of Bắc Giang Province are oriented towards cooperating with Korean localities at the district level that share similar characteristics and complementary strengths of Bắc Giang.

The northern province prioritises investments in industrial production projects which enable the effective participation in the global value chains of Korean investors such as electrical and electronic components, equipment, machineries, software, pharmaceutical and chemical industries, nanotechnology, biotechnology and semiconductors, as well as agricultural and forestry product processing.

Regarding the trade and service sector, Bắc Giang has called for Korean investments in value-added services such as finance, banking, insurance, postal and telecommunications, logistics and medical examination and treatments.

Bắc Giang also aims to attract and encourage Korean investments in projects of preservation and processing to increase added value for agro-forestry-fishery products of the province.

Statistics from the provincial Department of Foreign Affairs, show that so far, the province has attracted US$2.7 billion worth of registered capital from Korean investors across 365 projects.

RoK is currently the largest investor in term of the number of projects and the third largest in term of registered capital (after China and Samoa) among 30 countries and territories investing in the province.

The trade between Bắc Giang and RoK was estimated to reach $5.99 billion in the first five months of this year. Bilateral trade reached $16.3 billion in 2023 and $13.3 billion in 2022, making RoK the second largest trade partner of Bắc Giang, coming after China.

In addition, Bắc Giang City of Bắc Giang Province has signed a cooperation agreement with Seo District of Daejeon City to strengthen cooperation in green and smart urban areas development, economic development, education, culture, healthcare, tourism and public administration.

Programmes and projects by Korean non-governmental organisations and enterprises have contributed sinigicantly to improving social security in the province.

In particular, Samsung and KFHI sponsored $250,000 to build toilets in schools and $850,000 to build Samsung Hope Schools. DIVA provided $300,000 to support the building of houses for the poor in Yên Thế District.

The Korean Embassy provides supports in sending volunteering teachers to teach Korean at Bắc Giang Gifted High School. Since 2019 Samsung has also donated wheelchairs to the disabled in the province. — VNS