Vietnam Urges South Korea to Expand Investments in AI Data Centers

During talks with South Korean National Assembly Speaker Cho Jeong-sik in Seoul today, Chairman Tran Thanh Man affirmed that Vietnam views South Korea as a premier strategic partner. He expressed Vietnam’s desire to drive bilateral ties forward in a robust, practical, effective, and enduring manner across all sectors.

Man called on South Korea’s parliament to encourage domestic firms to invest heavily in Vietnam’s priority areas. These sectors include infrastructure, semiconductors, large-scale AI data centers, energy, and seaports. He also asked South Korea to help Vietnamese enterprises integrate deeper into South Korean manufacturing supply chains while opening markets wider for mutual trade.

Speaker Cho Jeong-sik noted that Chairman Man’s visit will reinforce cooperation between both legislatures. He affirmed South Korea’s readiness to walk hand-in-hand with Vietnam through its next development chapter.

Both leaders pledged to pursue $100 billion in two-way trade during 2026 and target $150 billion by 2030 through balanced, sustainable growth.

The two leaders agreed to prioritize non-refundable grants and concessional Official Development Assistance (ODA) for Vietnamese projects. They also committed to making science and technology cooperation a core growth engine for bilateral ties. Furthermore, both nations will refine investment policies so businesses from each country can operate securely with long-term stability.

Vietnam and South Korea will expand joint efforts in workforce training, culture, tourism, and people-to-people exchanges. Both sides will improve policies protecting the legitimate rights of the Vietnamese community in South Korea and the South Korean community in Vietnam, including roughly 100,000 multicultural Vietnamese-South Korean families.

The leaders emphasized that parliamentary diplomacy plays a pivotal role in monitoring and executing bilateral commitments, turning state-level agreements into concrete, substantive progress.

Vietnam and South Korea established diplomatic relations on December 22, 1992. In December 2022, the two nations elevated their relationship to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership. South Korea currently ranks as Vietnam’s second-largest foreign investor, second-largest tourist source, second-largest ODA donor, third-largest trade partner, and third-largest labor market. Bilateral trade reached $89.5 billion in 2025.