Comprehensive partnership with RoK to grow

RoK Prime Minister Lee Han Dong meets President Tran Duc Luong.

The comprehensive partnership between Vietnam and the Republic of Korea will further grow in the 21^st century, said General Secretary Nong Duc Manh of the Communist Party of Vietnam.

Receiving the visiting RoK Prime Minister Lee Han Dong in Hanoi on April 10, Mr Manh emphasised that Vietnam has placed importance on bolstering relations with both the RoK and the People's Democratic Republic of Korea in the interests of each country, and for peace, stability, co-operation and development in the region and the world at large.

Based on that spirit, the Party leader expressed his appreciation for the efforts made by both sides to engage in dialogue, reconciliation, and co-operation for the eventual reunification of the two Koreas.

For his part, Prime Minister Lee affirmed that his government and people attach great importance to furthering the friendship and comprehensive partnership between their country and Vietnam in the 21^st century.

He was pleased at the growing friendship and multi-form co-operation between the two countries in the past ten years since their establishment of diplomatic ties in 1992.

* Earlier in the morning, President Tran Duc Luong received Prime Minister Lee Han Dong.

President Luong described Prime Minister Lee's visit as a vivid manifestation of the two peoples' fine friendship, stressing that it marked a new development step in the expansion of the two countries' comprehensive partnership.

Prime Minister Lee said that the RoK government is willing to continue co-operating with and assisting Vietnam in its national industrialisation and modernisation.

The RoK government has encouraged its businessmen to expand their investment in Vietnam in the fields of trade, labour, fisheries, education, health care, culture, tourism, science and technology, information technology, oil and gas, electricity, construction and transport and communications, the RoK prime minister added.

Prime Minister Lee Han Dong has been on an official visit to Vietnam since April 7.

Addressing the function, Prime Minister Lee said that the RoK will do its best to share with Vietnam its development experience in order to strengthen and broaden the comprehensive partnership between the RoK and Vietnam.

"Through these exchanges, we hope to aid Vietnam's successful implementation of its five-year and ten-year socio-economic plans," he noted.

In return, Prime Minister Khai said that, over the past 10 years, the two countries have developed a comprehensive partnership in economics, investment and trade.

"That strengthens the Vietnamese and RoK governments and people's determination to look forward to the future, building a long lasting co-operation in the interest of the two peoples and in line with the trend of co-operation for development in the region and the world at large," Prime Minister Khai stressed.

Prime Minister Lee Han Dong of the Republic of Korea (RoK) called at the Hanoi National University on April 10.

RoK Prime Minister Lee Han Dong visits Hanoi National University.

Speaking to teaching staff and students of the university, Prime Minister Lee said that Vietnam and the RoK share many similarities in their history, culture, traditions and habits, with both countries having suffered from hardship and bitterness of war.

The RoK Prime Minister went on:

"2002 is a year of great significance for the two countries as it marks the 10^th anniversary of the establishment of Vietnam-RoK diplomatic ties. Though geographically far from each other, the two countries have developed close ties and have joined hands with each other in the international arena."

"Having both experienced hardships in recent years, the two countries must capitalise on their opportunities for mutually beneficial economic co-operation in the 21^st century, towards greater economic co-operation among all Asian countries."

Prime Minister Lee said he believed that the co-operative ties between the two nations would further develop in the 21^st century. He noted that during the RoK visit by President Tran Duc Luong in 2001, the two countries had agreed to establish comprehensive political, economic, and cultural co-operation and had discussed ways for the two countries to strengthen and expand co-operation in the future.

The RoK leader asserted that reasonably combining Vietnam's huge potential with the RoK's capital and technology would considerably contribute to the two countries' development, as well as to economic growth in Asia.

Prime Minister Lee said he hoped that the two countries' co-operation in the 21^st century would continue to strengthen and expand as it has over the past ten years.

Also on the day, Prime Minister Lee attended and addressed an information technology and telecommunications forum jointly organised by the Vietnam Post and Telecommunication General Department and the RoK Ministry of Post and Information.

Prime Minister Lee told the participants that his country is willing to co-operate and share with Vietnam its experiences in the building of a super-speed information network and the training of human resources.

During the morning of the same day, Prime Minister Lee and his entourage paid floral tribute to the late President Ho Chi Minh at his mausoleum.

He also met with Vietnamese and Korean businessmen and members of the Vietnam-RoK Friendship Association. (VNA)