Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport Kim Yun-deok visits Hanoi on Thursday and meets with To Lam, general secretary of the Vietnamese Communist Party, to deliver a personal letter from the South Korean president and discuss bilateral infrastructure cooperation. [Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport]
Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport Kim Yun-deok visits Hanoi on Thursday and meets with To Lam, general secretary of the Vietnamese Communist Party, to deliver a personal letter from the South Korean president and discuss bilateral infrastructure cooperation. [Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport]

Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport Kim Yun-deok said Friday he met with Vietnamese Minister of Construction Tran Hong Minh to discuss expanding cooperation across the land and transport sector, including high-speed rail construction and urban development.

Building on a bilateral railway cooperation MOU signed last year, the two sides agreed to develop the first South Korea-Vietnam Railway Cooperation Committee meeting — held Friday — into a regular intergovernmental channel. Through that forum, the two governments plan to identify and advance specific cooperation projects in the rail sector, including Vietnam's North-South High-Speed Railway.

Kim is also scheduled to visit Bac Ninh Province, where he will meet Nguyen Hong Thai, secretary of the Bac Ninh Provincial Party Committee, to discuss urban development cooperation, including the Dongnam new town development project, and inspect the project site. The Bac Ninh Dongnam new town project is a flagship initiative for South Korea-Vietnam intergovernmental urban development cooperation and is currently awaiting Vietnam's Investment Policy Approval.

Korea Land and Housing Corporation is already working to form an investment consortium in preparation for bidding once approval is granted. The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said it will continue intergovernmental engagement with both the Vietnamese central and local governments to ensure South Korean companies can translate their participation into tangible results.

Earlier, Kim visited Hanoi on Thursday and called on To Lam, general secretary of the Vietnamese Communist Party, delivering a personal letter from the South Korean president. The two discussed expanding bilateral infrastructure cooperation — including the North-South High-Speed Railway — and ways to support South Korean companies' involvement in the project.

The visit followed up on agreements reached at the South Korea-Vietnam summit last April, when the two leaders agreed to cooperate on railway development. It was aimed at giving concrete shape to the North-South High-Speed Railway project through intergovernmental cooperation and laying the groundwork for South Korean companies to participate from the earliest stages.

At the meeting, Kim said South Korea possesses the technology and experience spanning the entire rail project lifecycle — from design and construction to rolling stock manufacturing, operations and maintenance. He said Seoul could serve as "a cooperation partner able to share experience across the full scope of the project, including not only operational efficiency improvements, capacity expansion and user-centered service enhancements, but also technology transfer, professional workforce development and transit-oriented development."


smh@heraldcorp.com