Hanoi (VNA) – Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has asked the Lotte Group ofthe Republic of Korea (RoK) to foster the growth of Vietnamese start-ups by settingup a fund to support young business hopefuls.

The VietnamesePM made the suggestion while hosting Chairman of Lotte Group Shin Dong-bin inHanoi on December 4. He informed his guest that Vietnam is encouraging the developmentof start-ups and to date, up to 3,000 projects, including 100 innovative ideas,have received financial support from foreign investors.

Speakinghighly of Lotte Group’s various ongoing projects in Vietnam over the years, PMPhuc urged the conglomerate to invest in manufacturing projects in Vietnam, andpersuade RoK leaders to bolster the import of Vietnamese goods, especially farmproduce.

He voicedhis hope that cooperation and investment between the two countries’ firms inVietnam, including Lotte Group, will deepen the Vietnam-RoK strategic cooperativepartnership.

Inresponse, Shin pledged that he will work to realise the Vietnamese PM’s idea ofa start-up fund for Vietnamese youths in the near future.  

Hereported that during more than 20 years operating in Vietnam, Lotte Group has injected 40 trillion VND (1.71 billionUSD) in its projects in Vietnam and created around 20,000 jobs for localworkers

All projectsrun by Lotte Group in Vietnam apply advanced technologies and areenvironmentally friendly, he affirmed.

Regardingthe import of Vietnam’s goods, he said that since 2011, Lotte has continuouslyorganised fairs of Vietnamese products in the RoK, and will continue to partnerwith the Vietnamese side to sustain the event.

Accordingto Shin, Lotte Group is also paying heed to talent development and is investingin several start-up projects in Vietnam. -VNA