Seoul (VNA) - Secretary General ofthe ASEAN - Korea Centre (AKC) L🌼ee Hyuk has highlighted the significance of theupcoming visit to Vietnam by Speaker of the National Assembly of the Republicof Korea (RoK), Park Byeong-seug, from Octob🌊er 31 to November 4. 

In an interview granted recently to the VietnamNews Agency, Lee said the visit is taking place amid the complicateddevelopments of the COVID-19 pandemic, reflecting Vietnam’s importance to theRoK and the close bonds between the two counties. It also proves the commitment to building agreater bilateral partnership in the future, especially at a time when theregion and the world are striving to recover from the pandemic. The visit alsoreflects the RoK’s support for Vietnam in its role as ASEAN Chair 2020.  Lee said regular visits by the two countries’leaders have contributed to further deepening bilateral ties and laying a solidfoundation for the development of relations. The upcoming meeting between thetwo top legislators will enable both sides to overcome the challenges posed bythe pandemic and further expand bilateral collaboration. Vietnam granted special immigration licenses to340 Korean businesspeople in April. Later, in October, two-way flights betweenthe countries resumed - a move expected to ease pressure on their respective aviationand tourism industries. Commenting on the prospects for bilateral ties,Lee said the relationship has grown considerably over the past 28 years.Two-way trade hit 70.3 billion USD in 2019, while RoK investment in Vietnamreached 4.5 billion USD and tourist arrivals from both countries totalled 4.8million.  Despite the existing difficulties, RoK companiesstill poured capital of 1.4 billion USD into Vietnam in the first half of thisyear and expanded business partnerships. People-to-people exchange holds potential, Lee said.Apart from the increasing number of visitors, over 58,000 Vietnamese studentsare now studying in the RoK, or 31 percent of foreign students in the country,making Vietnam the second-largest source of students, behind China. Moreover,more and more young South Koreans are learning Vietnamese and seeking jobopportunities in the country. In order to bolster bilateral ties for thebenefit of the people of the two nations, Lee said the RoK and Vietnam should join hands tocounter the spread of COVID-19 and recover their economies. He suggested exploring new fields of cooperationpost-pandemic, such as biotechnology, medical services, digital technology, andonline services. Lee expressed his belief that the close bondsbetween the two peoples will further tighten the relationship between the two countriesin the future./.