Strong bonds with South Korean partners for deeper integration

The cooperation with VITASK is expected to help local suppliers participate in global value chains, photo Le Toan

The Vietnam Technology Advice and Solutions from Korea Centre (VITASK) will likely sign an MoU by the end of this month with departments of industry and trade, as well as industrial zones (IZs), to open up investment opportunities for businesses from the two parties.

The members of the supporting projects – Korea Electronics Technology Institute, Innovation Tech Lat, Korea Polytechnic University, and Innovative Technology Lat – will also sign similar deals with authorities and IZs in South Korea.

The agreements will help to reinforce the role of VITASK in investment promotion, along with the task of having a deep and thorough supporting programme.

According to Kyoung-Jin An, deputy director of VITASK, the cooperation will bring benefits for all sides. “We will introduce South Korean to invest in Vietnam, while simultaneously cooperating with departments and IZs to implement investment promotion programmes. Besides that, we will also connect Vietnamese businesses that want to penetrate the South

Korean market with local partners,” he said. “Regarding VITASK, the centre will be more convenient in approaching businesses, which have demand on supporting industries. In addition, it will help to improve the centre’s presence in both Vietnam and South Korea.”

After the first appraisal round of around 40 dossiers, VITASK selected 24 local suppliers to visit manufacturing facilities for the first time. The representatives of centres will visit these suppliers for a second time during the next months to select the final 16 eligible candidates.

“The scheme of this supporting programme was expected to be implemented in March, however, it will be delayed to May due to the impacts of the pandemic,” An explained. “According to the initial plan, we will select 12 candidates for the first phase. However, now the figure increases to 16 with the expectation of supporting more suppliers.”

VITASK currently cooperates with local authorities to work with the business community, which has the demand on technical support, but faces difficulties in approaching them.

“We hope to receive support from the government and relevant authorities to find suitable local suppliers, so that we can effectively implement the project,” An said.

Cooperating with South Korean ministries to establish the VITASK programme is a part of the Vietnamese government’s approach to help local suppliers improve their competitiveness.

The Vietnamese government has issued numerous regulations to promote development of local supporting industries, including Decree No.111/2015/ND-CP on incentive policies for businesses operating in supporting industries; Decision No.68/QD-TTg approving the Supporting Industry Development Programme from 2016 to 2025; the Law on Support for Small- and Medium-sized Enterprises; and Resolution No.115/NQ-CP dated August 2020 on solutions to promote supporting industry development.

The Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT) has also been working on an international cooperation project in terms of supporting industries, including the cooperation with Samsung to develop vendors, a scheme with South Korea’s Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy to train technical engineers, and an additional World Bank project, among others.

Le Huyen Nga, deputy head of the Supporting Industry Division under the MoIT’s Agency for Industrial Development said, “Implementing synchronised solutions to support businesses in supporting industries will contribute to improving their competitiveness, improving the productivity and quality of their products, and leading towards smoother entry into global supply chains.”