Seoul (VNA) – Vietnam plays a crucial role in connecting the Republic of Korea (RoK) and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), Foreign Minister of the RoK Park Jin affirmed on August 26.

The minister was among the Korean guests at a ceremony marking the 77th National Day of Vietnam (September 2) and the 30th anniversary of Vietnam-RoK diplomatic ties hosted by the Vietnamese Embassy in the RoK.

He noted with pleasure the development of bilateral relations over the past three decades, pledging to make more efforts to further cooperation.

In his remarks, Vietnamese Ambassador Vu Tung highlighted the significance of Vietnam’s August Revolution (August 19) and the birth of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (now the Socialist Republ🐭ic of Vietnam) on September 2, 1945.

Vietnam is working towards a developing country with a modern industry and high average income by 2030, and a developed nation with high income by 2045, the ambassador continued.

Tung also affirmed the Vietnamese Party’s and the State’s consistent foreign policy of peace and being a reliable friend of all countries worldwide to build an environment of peace, stability and cooperation.

Vietnam and the RoK aim to elevate their relationship to a comprehensive strategic partnership this year, he said, noting that Vietnam always attaches importance to developing their multi-faceted cooperation.

The ambassador also expressed his hope that apart from traditional fields, the two countries will expand their cooperation to new areas.

On the occasion, the embassy organised an exꦜhibition featuring Vietnam’s achievements in socio-economic development and foreign relations, its history, culture and people, as well as Vietnam-RoK relations.'

On August 25, the Vietnamese Embassy, in collaboration with the Vietnamese Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs, held a workshop in Seoul, seeking measures to improve the efficiency in supporting the country’s labourers in the RoK. The workshop, one among a series of the events to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the establishment of the two countries’ diplomatic relations, aimed to review the activities to bring Vietnamese workers to the RoK over the past 30 years, assess the support for these guest workers, and propose solutions to improve the efficiency of this work. Vietnamese Ambassador Nguyen Vu Tung stated that labour cooperation has over the past 30 years continuously developed, bringing economic benefits to the two countries’ peoples and businesses. Along with the significant increase in the number of Vietnamese workers in the RoK, the consultancy and support are also carried out systematically and effectively, he said, adding that the embassy always accompanies and coordinates with labour support centres to find solutions to enhance the supply of information, advice and support for employees in a substantive, effective and comprehensive way. About 205,000 Vietnamese are living, working and studying in the RoK, of whom 27,000 have arrived under the  Employment Permit System (EPS) programme. After 30 years of the establishment of the bilateral diplomatic ties, cooperation between Vietnam and the RoK has been thriving across spheres. Two-way trade revenue also increased 160 times, from 500 million USD in 1992 to 80 billion USD last year. The RoK is currently the largest investor of Vietnam with 9,288 underway projects worth over 79 billion USD, accounting for 18.5% of total FDI in Vietnam. Korean investors have been present in 59 out of 63 Vietnamese localities, focusing on areas of processing, manufacturing, electronics, high technology, logistics and construction. In a recent interview with the Vietnam News Agency (VNA), Kawk Sung-il, Director of the Korea Institute for International Economic Policy (KIEP)'s security strategy centre, said the RoK – Vietnam bilateral relations have developed strongly over the past three decades and reaped fruitful achievements, especially in terms of economics. The the two sides need to discuss more cooperation methods to develop sustainably the relations in the future, he suggested. According to Kwak, economic cooperation is a bright spot in the bilateral relationship with Vietnam now being the 3rd largest trading partner of the RoK./.