Can Tho (VNA) – Officials of Can Tho city on June 23met with a delegation from the Republic of Korea (RoK) which came to the MekongDelta locality to enhance cooperation in health care and construction.

Haeseung Shin, Director of the RoK’s GumiGangdong Hospital, who led the delegation, said this was their fifthdestination in an investment promotion trip to Hanoi, Thai Nguyen, Bac Ninh andSoc Trang provinces, Can Tho city and Ho Chi Minh City.

The delegation had working sessions with the CanTho municipal People’s Committee and People’s Council, the Can Tho GeneralHospital, the Hoan My Cuu Long Hospital, and some construction companies,through which they learned about local mechanisms and policies on attractingforeign investment, especially in these two fields, he noted.

He expressed his hope that the city will supportRoK businesses in building medical equipment factories, and distributingmedical equipment and materials. He added they also want to invest inconstruction, building material supply, and construction consultancy andsupervision.

Valuing the sound cooperation between Can Thoand the RoK, Vice Chairman of the municipal People’s Committee Truong QuangHoai Nam said the RoK currently ranks first among foreign investors in hiscity.

To create an optimal investment climate forforeign firms, especially Koreans, aside from administrative procedure reforms,Can Tho has also paid attention to upgrading “hard” and “soft” infrastructure,particularly for big health care and education projects.

Nam noted in the first half of 2017, the cityalso sent many investment promotion delegations to step up cooperation with theRoK in smart city building, hi-tech agriculture, and education-training.

As of May 2017, Can Tho accommodated nine RoKinvestment projects with total registered capital of 247 million USD, alongwith the 17.7 million USD Korea Vietnam Incubator Park, which uses officialdevelopment assistance (ODA) from the RoK. Another ODA project on supportingthe mechanisation of Vietnam’s agriculture in Can Tho is being considered bythe Ministry of Planning and Investment, according to the municipal Departmentof External Affairs.

Four other projects sponsored by RoKnon-governmental organisations are also underway in the Vietnamese city. Theyprovide health care for children and woman and training on the Korean languageand culture for women who prepare to marry Korean citizens.

In 2016, Can Tho posted 9.5 million USD inexports to and 6.9 million USD in imports from the RoK. The respective figureswere 2.1 million USD and 1.7 million USD in the first four months of thisyear.-VNA