Viet Nam wants South Korean investors to actively take part in and become strategic partners in the equitisation and divestment of State capital from State-owned enterprises (SOEs).

This is due to their financial strength, management experience and high technology.

Finance Minister Dinh Tien Dung said this in an interview to Vietnam News Agency on the sidelines of an investment promotion conference in South Korea on April 18.

He said the Vietnamese Government recognised the role of foreign investors, including those from South Korea.

The Korean investors’ participation in the equitisation and divestment processes will help improve the quality of economic restructuring in Viet Nam. It is expected to promote the effectiveness of governance and use of capital at SOEs in the country, he added.

According to him, the fields in which Viet Nam wanted to attract Korean investment should be the ones both sides were strong at and could contribute to the growth of the two economies’, such as heavy industries, oil refining and petrochemistry, high technology, electronic and consumer product manufacturing and infrastructure and real estate development.

Viet Nam highly values Korean investors’ advantages in capital, technology and governance. It hopes that aside from direct investment, they will also step up indirect investment to materialise the statement of the two countries’ leaders during a visit by South Korean President Moon Jae-in to Viet Nam in March.

South Korea is currently the largest investor in Viet Nam, with US$59 billion of direct investment and over $3 billion of indirect investment. Samsung projects in Thai Nguyen and Bac Ninh provinces and HCM City, Kaengnam and Lotte buildings and the Starlake residential area in Ha Noi are examples of successful investment cooperation between the two countries. — VNS