Cooperation in tourism and culture a notable achievement in relations between Hanoi and Seoul

He stressed that the two sides should continue to work on developing specific and practical cooperation programs and projects that would take the development of tourism exchanges to a new level, in line with the comprehensive strategic partnership between Vietnam and South Korea.

As part of his four-day official visit, Minh Chinh attended a forum on tourism promotion and cultural cooperation between the two countries the previous day in the capital, where he highlighted that Seoul and Hanoi share many cultural and historical similarities.

Regarding cooperation in the cultural sector, the Prime Minister said that his country would like to receive support and cooperation from South Korea in the process of developing and implementing strategies and policies aimed at promoting the strong and effective development of cultural industries.

In this sense, he proposed focusing cooperation on six areas, including establishing institutions and policies to promote cultural and entertainment industries, building strategic infrastructure related to culture and tourism, and training specialized human resources for these sectors.

Also on Monday, Minh Chinh spoke separately with leaders of major South Korean economic groups that have investments in Vietnam, including Hyosung, Lotte, Hyundai Motor, Doosan Enerbility, and with the head of the South Korean Federation of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises, Kim Ki-moon.

Meanwhile, coinciding with the Vietnamese Prime Minister’s stay here, Vietnam Airlines celebrated the 30th anniversary of its first direct flight to South Korea and welcomed the 15 millionth passenger carried during that period.

In these 30 years, the airline has made 65,000 flights between the two countries, transporting 15 million passengers and 291,300 tons of cargo, thus becoming a bridge not only for expanding the aviation markets of both parties, but also for promoting economic, cultural and social exchanges.

Vietnam and South Korea have become important partners in many areas, as evidenced by the fact that in 2023 bilateral trade reached $76.1 billion, and the total capital invested by South Korean groups in Indochina exceeded $87 billion.

Pham Minh Chinh’s visit is the first official visit by a high-ranking Vietnamese official to South Korea since the establishment of the comprehensive strategic partnership in December 2022.

Arc/mpm