South Korea and Vietnam will work to expand bilateral cooperation in the energy industry, including renewable energy and nuclear power. The countries’ industry ministries signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to develop joint projects in the renewable energy sector, such as solar power, wind power and energy storage systems, according to Korea’s Ministry of Trade, Industry & Energy.
Korea Electric Power Corporation (Kepco) and Vietnam’s state-owned energy company, Petrovietnam (PVN), also signed an MOU to develop a workforce for the nuclear power industry in the Vietnam, which plans to build four nuclear reactors by 2035.
The agreements were signed following talks in Seoul between Korean President Lee Jae Myung and To Lam, General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam and Secretary of the Central Military Commission. The two leaders agreed to deepen the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership between Korea and Vietnam established three years ago, covering areas such as trade, security, science and technology, and people-to-people exchanges. They also undertook to step up efforts to boost bilateral trade to $150bn by 2030.
Ahead of the summit, Korean Industry Minister Kim Jung-kwan held a bilateral meeting with his Vietnamese counterpart, Nguyen Hong Dien, and agreed to expand supply chain cooperation. Under the agreement, Seoul will launch a five-year official development assistance (ODA) programme to establish a critical mineral supply chain technology cooperation centre in Vietnam. The Korean government will invest a combined KRW16.6bn ($12m) to procure equipment for smelting critical minerals in Vietnam, provide technical guidance and support human resource development.
