The Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning (MSIP) signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) for information and communication technology (ICT) cooperation with the Ministry of Information and Communication of Vietnam, and hosted meetings to encourage greater cooperation between business from both nations (July 3rd).

The latest event was part of efforts to expand ICT cooperation with Vietnam, an important trading partner, and promote investment partnerships between businesses in Korea and Vietnam.
 
Vietnam is Korea's sixth-largest trading partner ($22.4 billion in 2014), with the majority of Korean mobile phones manufactured in Vietnam and accounting for 17% of Vietnam's exports. The close economic link between the two nations is expected to tighten even further with the signing of the Korea-Vietnam free trade agreement (FTA) this year.

Vietnam's economic growth has been meteoric, leading to large-scale infrastructure projects in roads, railways and other areas, and Korean large conglomerates as well as its small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the telecom equipment and solution industries are poised to take part in Vietnam's plans for rolling out a 4G mobile communication network in 2016.
 
Minister Choi Yang-hee of the MSIP and Minister Nguyen Bac Son of the MIC agreed during their meeting and the MOU signing to expand the ICT partnership between both nations and engage in specific cooperative projects.

The two countries have already identified a common ground in the shared belief that ICT cooperation between nations offers the best solution to today's challenges being faced by ASEAN nations including agricultural productivity, climate change, and disaster relief and safety, during a series of top-level meetings including the Korea-ASEAN Summit held in Busan in December as well as the ASEAN ministerial meeting held earlier this year.

As part of these efforts, the two countries agreed to share information in new growth areas including big data and the Internet of Things (IoT) as well as in the traditional spheres of cooperation including the Internet, mobile communications, software and cyber security as well as carry out joint research for mutual capability development and hold exchange programs for experts and other related programs (seminars, training programs, etc.).
 
Representatives of the Vietnam Posts and Telecommunications Group (VNPT), who visited Korea as part of the ministerial delegation, signed memoranda of understanding with Korean ICT companies.

Companies from both nations met to discuss possible investment partnerships and plans for Korean businesses to enter the Vietnamese market. Vietnamese telecom companies and Korean SMEs highly interested in finding new inroads into the Vietnamese market sat down in a series of meetings to network and exchange ideas.
 
Minister Choi Yang-hee said that "young Vietnamese middle-class consumers in their 20s an 30s are eager customers of cultural content provided via telecommunication networks, which presents an excellent opportunity for Korea's top-ranked telecom equipment and solution companies to enter the Vietnamese and Southeast Asian markets by building on the relationships created during the latest round of meetings."