investment in Vietnam , with an accumulated capital infusion of 23
billion USD, said the RoK Consul General in HCM City Kim Sang Yoon.
At the Oct. 4 meeting held by the HCM Union of Friendship Organisations
to celebrate the founding anniversary of the RoK (Oct. 3), Consul
General Kim Sang Yoon said the cooperative relations between Vietnam and
the RoK have strongly developed since the two countries established
their diplomatic ties 18 years ago, with two-way trade turnover
increasing from 500 million USD in 1992 to 9.5 billion USD.
At the meeting, Chairman of the HCM City Vietnam-RoK Friendship
Association Vu Van Hoa thanked the RoK for its support to Vietnam -
and HCM City in particular - during the national construction and
development.
In 2009, Vietnam received 985
million USD in aid from the RoK Economic Development Cooperation Fund or
20 percent of the fund’s budget, Hoa said.
The RoK
has also provided non-refundable aid to help Vietnam develop
infrastructure systems, health care and environmental programs, he said.
In recent years, cooperation in tourism, education, sports and culture has borne fruit.
About 59,000 Vietnamese people are working and studying in the RoK and
tens of thousands of Vietnamese brides have married RoK men, while many
thousands of RoK families are living in Vietnam , according to the
Vietnam-RoK Friendship Association.
Up to July of this year, the RoK provided the second largest number of tourists to Vietnam , with 368,000 arrivals./.
