Ninh Binh (VNA) - Speaker of the National Assembly of the Republic of Korea (RoK) Park Byeong-seug and his wife on November 1 visited the northern province of Ninh Binh as part of their trip to Vietnam.

At a reception for the Korean guests, Nguyen Thi Thu Ha, Secretary of the provincial Party Committee and head of Ninh Binh’s delegation of NA deputies, highlighted the fine relations between Vietnam and the RoK, as well as between the province and the East Asian country.

Ha also briefed the Korean delegation on Ninh Binh’s outstanding achievements over the past five years as well as its potential and strength.

Ninh Binh’s gross regional domestic product (GRDP) grew 8.03 percent annually during the five-year period, with its economic structure shifting towards industry and construction.

Notably, Ninh Binh has attracted 37 RoK-funded projects valued at over 300 million USD, making up 46 percent of the total FDI in the province, she said, adding that the firms have observed legal regulations and actively coordinated with Ninh Binh in production and business.

Ha expressed her hope that Park’s visit will serve as a bridge enabling the RoK side to share its experience in investment attraction in the time ahead.  

She cited the twinning relations between Ninh Binh province and Asan city, as well as between Ninh Binh city and Jecheon city of the RoK to prove the close ties between the two sides.

For his part, Park congratulated Vietnam and Ninh Binh in particular on their successes in containing the COVID-19 pandemic, and noted his hope that the province will lure more attention from the RoK.

He stressed the amount of investment capital the RoK firms have poured into Ninh Binh has reflected the province’s potential for economic development, saying together with its favourable geographical location, the locality would grow further in the future.

The Korean leader said the RoK is one of the countries that are taking the lead in automobile manufacturing and electronics, and pledged to continue to encourage Korean firms to invest in Ninh Binh.

He also called on Ninh Binh to create more favourable conditions for Korean enterprises to operate in the province.

As many as 4.3 million Koreans visited Vietnam last year, many of them travelled to Ninh Binh, Park said, expressing his hope that the number will increase in the time ahead.

Later the same day, the Korean delegation visited the Trang An scenic landscape complex and other tourist sites in Ninh Binh./.