Hanoi (VNA) – President of the Republic of Korea (RoK) MoonJae-in and spouse on March 24 concluded their three-day State visit to Vietnam atthe invitation of President Tran Dai Quang.

During the visit, President Moon held talks with his Vietnamesecounterpart Tran Dai Quang, witnessed the signing of many cooperation agreementsbetween the two countries, had a meeting with the press and attended aVietnam-RoK Business Forum.

The RoK leader held separate meetings with General Secretary of theCommunist Party of Vietnam Central Committee Nguyen Phu Trong, Prime MinisterNguyen Xuan Phuc, National Assembly Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan, and had anexchange programme with Vietnam’s U23 football team and its Korean head coachPark Hang-seo.

President Moon was also present at a ground-breaking ceremony for theVietnam-RoK Institute for Science and Technology. On this occasion, he also laidflowers in tribute to late President Ho Chi Minh at his mausoleum in Hanoi.

At the meetings, the two sides expressed delight at the rapid,comprehensive and effective growth of bilateral relations in all fields after25 years of setting up diplomatic ties, especially after the establishment of cooperativestrategic partnership in 2009.

Both sides agreed to maintain regular high-level visits and meetings,while enhancing the efficiency and frequency of dialogue and discussionmechanisms, expanding exchanges and cooperation among agencies of the two governments,parliaments, politic parties and localities as well as in major areas such asdiplomacy, defence, security and law enforcement.

They concurred to work together for the target of 100 billion USD intwo-way trade by 2020, while rolling out measures to balance trade, andimproving the efficiency of cooperation in investment, manufacturing, labourand energy. The two sides defined science and technology as spearhead to createa new momentum for bilateral cooperative relations.

The two countries also agreed to expand cooperation in the fields ofculture, education, tourism and people-to-people exchanges.

The two sides consented to further strengthen coordination and mutual supportat international forums as well as responding to global challenges andnon-traditional security matters. They affirmed the importance of ensuringpeace, security, safety and freedom of navigation and aviation in the East Sea,and promoting the settlement of disputes in the East Sea through peaceful measuresin line with international law.

On this occasion, President Moon Jae-in and President Tran Dai Quangwitnessed the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on joint actionprogramme in trade cooperation for the 2018-2020 period, aiming to reach thetarget of 100 billion USD in bilateral trade by 2020, along with MoUs oncooperation in supporting industry, infrastructure and transport,n urbanconstruction and development, response to 4.0 revolution’s impacts, and thesending and receipt of labourers.

Within the framework of the visit, Nguyen Thi Hien, wife of PresidentTran Dai Quang and Kim Jung-sook, spouse of President Moon Jae-in, visited the VietnamMuseum of Ethnology in Hanoi to learn about Vietnamese culture and promotecultural exchanges between the two countries.-VNA