Mayor Oh builds business ties with Vietnam

Social Affairs

Published: 04 Aug. 2022, 06:00 Updated: 04 Aug. 2022, 10:15

Mayor Oh builds business ties with Vietnam

Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon poses with the Vietnam national soccer team head coach Park Hang-seo during a Seoul tourism briefing event held at Lotte Hotel Saigon in Vietnam on Wednesday. [JOINT PRESS CORPS]

HO CHI MINH CITY — Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon helped Korean tech startups get greater access to Vietnam.

On Wednesday, Oh signed a joint letter of intent (LOI) for a technology partnership with Vietnam’s National Agency for Entrepreneurship and Commercialization Development (Natec) at the Seoul Startup Hub Ho Chi Minh.

“Vietnam is considered the most dynamic startup market in Asia,” the city government said, "achieving positive growth for two consecutive years despite the global economic recession."

The LOI calls for Korean technology companies in such fields as smart mobility to get help entering Vietnam through partnerships and cooperation between the tech industry and academia.

In addition, the Ministry of Science and Technology of Vietnam agreed to provide space in the National Startup Support Center, (NSSC) where the Seoul Startup Hub is located, as a space dedicated to technology partnerships and R&D between Seoul and companies in Ho Chi Minh City.

With a goal of having all its cars be electric by 2050, Vietnam is pursuing various policies such as reducing registration tax and special consumption tax to promote electric vehicles. Thus it has high growth potential for Korean companies, the city said.

The LOI envisions synergy between Seoul and Ho Chi Minh City, as the Korean capital is also promoting electric vehicles and self-driving cars. In preparation for having 400,000 electric vehicles by 2026, Seoul plans to have up to 220,000 EV charging stops across the country — ten times more than now — and at least one charging station within a five-minute driving distance of any point.

Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon holds a commemorative plaque with Nguyen Anh Thi, head of the board of management of Saigon Hi-tech Park at Saigon High-tech Park, a park for high technology enterprises, in Vietnam on Wednesday. [SEOUL METROPOLITAN GOVERNMENT]

Seoul is also pushing a RoboRide autonomous taxi service project to commercialize so-called smart mobility through public-private partnerships with the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, and Transport and Hyundai Motor. Starting with a total of 26 roads (48.8 kilometers) including Teheran-ro and Gangnam-daero this year, the testing area will be expanded to 32 roads (76.1 kilometers).

The city government also signed agreement with Vietnam National University in Ho Chi Minh City to support industry-academic cooperation between Korean companies and Vietnamese universities by jointly developing technologies or recruiting talent.

In addition, Oh met with Korean businessmen and startup CEOs in Vietnam to discuss ideas.

“I will support and contribute to the development of fourth industrial technologies such as smart mobility, AI, and robots in both countries and contribute to job creation,” Oh said.

“I hope the cooperation project between the Vietnam’s science and technology ministry and Seoul can become the foundation for demonstration, commercialization, and advancement of technologies and services such as of electric vehicles and autonomous driving,” he added.

Also on Wednesday, Oh attended a Seoul tourism briefing session called Soulful Seoul Night in Ho Chi Minh City.

Vietnamese travelers are a big part of Korea’s tourism industry. Before the pandemic, they were the seventh largest group among all travelers who visited Korea. The country saw about 550,000 Vietnamese tourists in 2019, an increase of 21 percent from the year before.

To serve as a bridge between the two nations, Oh appointed the Vietnam national soccer team head coach Park Hang-seo as global ambassador for Seoul tourism.

BY SEO JI-EUN [seo.jieun1@joongang.co.kr]