Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries to host export consultation event in Ho Chi Minh City on Tuesday and Wednesday

One-on-one meetings with more than 50 Vietnamese firms

This image is unrelated to the article. [Getty Images Bank]
This image is unrelated to the article. [Getty Images Bank]

About 28 South Korean offshore plant service companies are set to pursue Vietnam's growing market for maintenance, decommissioning and recycling of aging offshore facilities. The government plans to connect Korean firms directly with Vietnamese energy companies through an export consultation event and provide follow-up support to help them secure contracts.

South Korea's Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries said Monday it will co-host the "2026 Korea-Vietnam Offshore Plant Service Industry Export Consultation and Market Briefing" with Vietnam's Ministry of Industry and Trade in Ho Chi Minh City from Tuesday to Wednesday.

The offshore plant service industry covers transportation, installation, operation, maintenance and decommissioning of offshore facilities after their construction. Vietnam is expanding related infrastructure as part of its energy transition policy, while the aging of existing offshore plants is also driving rising demand for maintenance and decommissioning services.

Vietnam is pursuing an energy transition policy that calls for adding 22.5 GW of LNG power generation capacity by 2030 and building 6 to 17 GW of offshore wind power capacity by 2035. The South Korean government sees these market shifts as an opportunity for domestic offshore plant service companies to expand into Vietnam.

About 150 people are expected to attend the event, including roughly 28 South Korean offshore plant service companies and more than 50 Vietnamese energy-related firms. The Korea-Vietnam Offshore Plant Service Industry Cooperation Center in Hanoi, Korea Maritime and Ocean University and the Vietnam Petroleum Institute will also participate.

On the first day Tuesday, South Korean companies and Vietnamese project owners will hold one-on-one export consultations. Professional interpreters will be stationed at each consultation table to support communication on technical and contractual matters.

On Wednesday, a market briefing will be held at the Vietnam Petroleum Institute to share information on local energy market conditions and policy trends. Participants will also introduce the contracting experience and technology of South Korean firms and discuss avenues for bilateral cooperation in the offshore plant service sector.

When the ministry held the event for the first time last year, the focus was on building a cooperative network among the two governments, state-owned enterprises and private companies. This year, the emphasis has shifted to helping small and mid-sized Korean companies make tangible inroads into the market and secure contract opportunities.

Since August, the ministry has been running the Korea-Vietnam Offshore Plant Service Industry Cooperation Center in Hanoi on a pilot basis. The ministry plans to use the local cooperation center as a hub to provide follow-up consulting and other support to South Korean firms even after the export consultations conclude.

"Vietnam is a market with high growth potential, as demand for the decommissioning and conversion of aging offshore plants is increasing," said Seo Jeong-ho, director general for maritime policy at the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries. "We will pursue follow-up consulting to ensure the results of this event translate into actual contracts, and will continue to actively support Korean companies' entry into the Vietnamese market through the local cooperation center."


adastra@heraldcorp.com