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PM Asks Vietnam to Expand Economic Ties

Prime Minister Lee Han-dong, currently on a trip to Vietnam discussed ways to expand bilateral economic cooperation in a meeting with his Vietnamese counterpart Phan Van Khai, Tuesday. Prime Minister Lee asked for Daewoo to be allowed to participate in US$100 million upgrade of the Vietnamese army's M113 armored cars, as well as collaboration in the CDMA mobile communications service between Seoul and Hanoi to be launched within this year; LG Electronics and SK Telecom have led the latter project.

Lee also discussed ways for Daewoo Construction and Samsung Corp. to participate in construction projects, with Vietnamese government support, on oil and gas development, which the Korean National Oil Corporation has already joined.

Regarding these, Phan said that as the fourth largest investor in Vietnam, South Korea has been contributing to high-speed economic growth, adding that he will aggressively assess ways for Korean businesses to participate further.

(From Hanoi, Cho Hee-cheon, hccho@chosun.com)