(VOV) - Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung has affirmed Vietnam’s willingness to boost wide-ranging cooperation with the Republic of Korea (RoK) at a reception for former Korean President Lee Myung Bak in Hanoi on Tuesday. The government leader expressed his delight at the comprehensive and vigorous development of Vietnamese-RoK relations, notably since they established a strategic partnership in 2009.


Dung told his guest that Vietnam places special importance on stepping up mutually beneficial cooperation with the RoK across a variety of fields with a focus on economics, trade, investment, tourism, politics- diplomacy, defense and security, labor and cross-cultural exchange. He believed that through combined efforts, both nations could soon finalize Free Trade Agreement (FTA) negotiations towards the early signing of the pact at the end of 2014. Former President Lee said the Korean business community was eager to seek investment opportunities in Vietnam, as evidenced by the host of Korean high-tech looking to the country at the moment.