Korean enterprises investing in Vietnam: "Work together, win together and enjoy together"

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh with leaders of leading Korean corporations and enterprises attending the dialogue.

Chairman of the Korean Chamber of Commerce in Vietnam (KoCham) in Vietnam Ko Tae Yeon expressed his pleasure on behalf of Korean enterprises to express his gratitude to the Government and Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh for organizing the seminar. Last year, Vietnam attracted impressive FDI in the context of a difficult global economy, including USD 7 billion of investment from Korea, an increase of 37.5% compared to 2024; bringing the cumulative investment of Korea. There are over 10,000 Korean firms working in Vietnam, producing more than 900,000 jobs and contributing positively to the country's socioeconomic development.

These results are affirming Vietnam's important position and role in the global supply chain, reflecting the strong development of the Vietnam-Korea cooperative relationship.

To become a leading country in the high-tech industry in the future, Vietnam will need to attract FDI in semiconductors, artificial intelligence (AI), green energy, and other areas.  Korean businesses are eager to work closely together to promote these industries in the coming years.

At the dialogue, large Korean corporations and enterprises expressed their appreciation for Vietnam's increasingly improved business investment environment and its status as an attractive investment destination; wishing to expand investment, focusing on strategic infrastructure development areas, new growth drivers, emerging industries such as semiconductor industry, digital transformation; high technology, aviation, electronics, logistics, clean energy, electronics, and so on.

Korean corporations want to work with the government to improve the business investment environment, which will help Vietnam grow; recommending that the Vietnamese government, ministries, and sectors pay attention to and remove some difficulties and obstacles, promoting strong and substantial development of Vietnam-Korea economic, trade, and investment relations.

Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Le Xuan Loi speaks at the dialogue.

Attending the dialogue, Mr. Le Xuan Loi reported to the Prime Minister and delegates: In 2024, Bac Ninh province attracted about USD 5.1 billion in FDI capital (leading the country in terms of scale of attracted investment capital). From the beginning of the year until now, Bac Ninh province has attracted USD 1.45 billion, including: newly granted investment registration for 48 projects with a total registered investment capital of USD 210.83 million; adjusted capital for 30 projects with an increased adjusted capital of USD 1,232.27 million; issued 05 times of notice of approval for capital contribution, purchase of shares, capital contributions of foreign investors in economic organizations with a value of 3.91 million USD.

To date, Bac Ninh province has granted investment registration to 2,459 valid FDI projects from 41 countries and territories, with a total registered investment capital after adjustment and capital contribution, share purchase, and capital contribution totaling USD 31.3 billion (ranked seventh in the country in terms of investment capital attraction).  Korea has 1,008 projects with a total investment capital of USD 16.1 billion, which accounts for more than 51% of the province's total foreign investment capital.  Korean projects mostly operate in the domains of electronic component manufacture, mobile phones, precision mechanics, agriculture and food processing, service industries, and civil engineering.  There are 5,589 Korean workers in Bac Ninh.

In particular, the province's industrial parks have 620 Korean investment projects with a total registered investment capital of 15.4 billion USD.  In 2024, the import-export turnover will be USD 57.4 billion, generating VND 8,292 billion for the state budget and recruiting 80,000 jobs.

Based on Samsung and Amkor's experience in Bac Ninh, the Samsung Display Company has offered recommendations for importing machinery and equipment for new product development and testing.  SDV's new project will require an investment in gear and equipment for research and trial production.  The Investment Certificate for the project has not been awarded.  This material cannot be implemented since there are currently no restrictions in place under the legislation. Amkor Company proposed importing gear and equipment that had been in operation for more than a decade to support semiconductor engineering instruction and practice.

The People's Committee of Bac Ninh province respectfully requests that the Prime Minister consider allowing investors/enterprises operating in the semiconductor and high-tech industries (industries subject to the Investment Law) to import machinery and equipment that has been used for more than ten years for training and testing purposes, and including them in the enterprise's investment costs.

He called on Korean businesses to invest in semiconductor, artificial intelligence (AI), renewable energy, digital finance, biotechnology, smart manufacturing, and digital economy while promoting investment cooperation in such fields like processing and manufacturing industries, real estate projects, infrastructure development, telecommunications, tourism, cultural industries, and entertainment.

The Prime Minister called on Korean businesses to participate in Viet Nam's production ecosystem based on the principle of mutual benefits, and maintain close cooperation within multilateral frameworks, regional and global value chains to ensure the economic security of both sides.

He encouraged Korean businesses to share their experiences to promote startup ecosystem by supporting venture capital funds and connecting startups from both countries, actively participate in Viet Nam's innovation centers and establish research and development (R&D) centers.

The Vietnamese Government commits to ensuring that the foreign-invested sector remains an important part of Viet Nam's economy, and pledges to safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of investors while maintaining political stability, social order and safety, and a stable institutional framework, mechanisms, and policies to attract investment, Prime Minister Pham assured.