Participants in the forum pose for a group photo. (Photo: qdnd.vn) In his opening remarks,President of the Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences Bui Nhat Quang noted thetwo countries elevated their diplomatic relations, set up in 1992, to acomprehensive cooperative partnership in the 21st century in 2001and then a strategic cooperative partnership in 2009. They are planning to liftbilateral ties to a comprehensive strategic partnership this year.
Highlighting the unceasinglyreinforced and expanded relations, he held that Vietnam and the RoK nowhave new and promising opportunities for cooperation.
The achievements of the30-year relationship and similarities in strategic interests will serve as an impulsefor lifting their ties to a comprehensive strategic partnership and cementingthe countries’ connectivity for the sake of the two peoples as well as forpeace, stability, prosperity, cooperation, and development in the region andthe world at large, according to Quang.
Nguyen Thi Thanh, Chairwomanof the Vietnam - RoK Parliamentary Friendship Group, said the RoK is a leadingpartner of Vietnam in most fields while Vietnam, with a fast growing anddynamic economy, is a focal partner of the RoK in its New Southern Policy.
Both sides should create newdriving forces and work out appropriate cooperation orientations and measuresin order to further intensify their close-knit connections, she added,recommending increasing high-level contact, improving the effectiveness ofdialogue and cooperation mechanisms, and continuing to boost collaboration inpolitics, diplomacy, defence, security, economy, science - technology, energy,health care, culture, education, tourism, and people-to-people andlocality-to-locality exchanges.
For his part, RoK AmbassadorPark Noh-wan affirmed the two countries have been cooperating successfully overthe last 30 years, and that they have long viewed each other as partners ofleading importance in such traditional fields as trade, investment, developmentcooperation, and tourism.
Vietnam and the RoK arebuilding close partnerships in new aspects like security, economy, health care,climate change response, and defence. They are planning to elevate bilateralties to a comprehensive strategic partnership in 2022, he noted.
The forum featured threesessions that discussed the 30-year cooperation, the countries’ strategiccooperation in the new international economic - political context, and theprospect, opportunities, and measures for partnership elevation.
Initiated in 2012, the Vietnam- RoK Forum for the Future is an important dialogue channel for the twocountries’ policymakers, experts, and scholars. Opinions at the event will be summarisedin a recommendation report to be submitted to the countries’ Governments./.
VNA
