S Korea offers to help Vietnam develop nuclear power

South Korea is prepared to help Vietnam research and develop nuclear power, Minister of Trade, Industry, and Energy Ahn Duk-geun said at a Vietnam-South Korea business forum in Seoul on Monday.

The forum was held as part of Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh’s ongoing visit to South Korea from June 30-July 3.

Nuclear energy is a potential area of cooperation between the two countries regarding climate change adaptation and energy transition, the South Korean minister noted.

Ahn Duk-geun also highlighted other targets set by Vietnam and South Korea, such as increasing bilateral trade to $100 billion in 2025 and $150 billion in 2030, further cooperation on major infrastructure projects, and collaborating on supply chain development, especially supplies of natural resources.

At a meeting with PM Chinh on the sidelines of the event, Minister Ahn Duk-geun emphasized that Vietnam is the biggest Southeast Asian destination for South Korea’s outbound investments, and proposed the two governments continue to support businesses.

In reply, PM Chinh suggested South Korea further open up its market to Vietnamese goods and collaborate in renewable and new energy, such as hydrogen.

South Korean businesses can help Vietnam’s core industrial sectors for the nation’s industrialization and modernization goals, he added.

Also on Monday, Minister Ahn Duk-geun and Vietnamese Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Hong Dien discussed trade, industry, and energy.

Dien called on the two nations to collaborate in core industrial sectors, mining and processing of rare earths and bauxite, electric vehicle (EV) production, and manufacturing of equipment for metro and high-speed railways.

Moving on to the semiconductor sector, he asked for South Korea to allow Vietnamese firms to join its supply chain and train workers.

The Vietnamese minister also discussed the removal of trade barriers, trade promotions, and facilitation for cooperation between the two countries' private sectors. South Korea should promote Vietnamese goods at major retail outlets, such as Lotte Mart, E-Mart, and CJ Home Shopping, Dien said.

Regarding energy, Dien recommended South Korean businesses invest and develop LNG-fired power, and manufacture equipment such as turbines, energy storage and smart power grids for energy and gas exploitation to help Vietnam develop stable energy infrastructure.

Dien also called on South Korea to help Vietnam with investment and workforce training for the hydrogen, green ammonia, and small-scale nuclear power sectors.

Agreeing with the proposals, Minister Ahn Duk-geun said that stable energy infrastructure is a key goal for all nations, and South Korea would cooperate with Vietnam to achieve this goal.

Registered foreign direct investment (FDI) in Vietnam reached $15.2 billion in the year to June 20, up 13% year-on-year, the Ministry of Planning and Investment reported.

In the first half of this year, FDI from South Korea increased 15.8% year-on-year to reach $1.41 billion, ranking fourth among 84 economies investing in Vietnam.

In January-June, Vietnam posted export revenues of $190.08 billion, up 14.5% year-on-year; and import expenditures rose 17% to $178.45 billion, resulting in a trade surplus of $11.63 billion, according to the General Statistics Office.

South Korea was the fourth-largest trade partner as Vietnam earned $10.4 billion from exporting and spent $7.4 billion on importing goods with South Korea, up 12.2% and 26.2% year-on-year, respectively.

In June, PM Pham Minh Chinh said Vietnam is not in the process of developing nuclear power at present, but would study and consider it a solution to ensure its net-zero emissions target is met by 2050 while maintaining energy security. The government head made the statement at a meeting with A.E.Likhachev, director general of Russia's Rosatom State Atomiс Energy Corporation, ahead of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s visit to Vietnam.