In recent years, Bac Giang province has boosted cooperative ties with Korean partners gaining dramatic results in various fields.

Foreign direct investment (FDI)

By the end of 2017, Bac Giang had attracted 321 FDI projects, 197 of which are from Republic of Korea (RoK) with registered capital of 760 million US dollars. 107 out of 197 Korean projects are invested in industrial parks with registered capital of 504 million US dollars. RoK ranks first in terms of projects and second in terms of registered capital among countries and territories investing in the province.  

Korean enterprises mainly invest in such fields as mechanic processing, garment and textile, electronics. Besides, there are some projects in service sector and urban infrastructure. These companies have come into stable and effective operation. Taeyang Vietnam (registered capital of 4 million US dollars), Si flex (registered capital of 106 million US dollars), Viet Pan Pacific (registered capital of 20 million US dollars) and Vina Prauden (registered capital of 4 million US dollars) are good examples. Right after receiving investment certificate, the investors promptly carried out construction of factories, assembling machines and testing. Seventy percent of Korean enterprises exceeded the committed implementation progress.  

The Korean invested projects have made remarkable contributions to socio-economic development of the province especially in economic restructuring, creating jobs, transfer of modern technology and management experience.

ODA attraction     

The Korean government (through the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA)) funded the construction of the Vietnam- Korea vocational college of Technology (VKTech)  with total budget of 320 billion dong (16 million US dollars) including 208 billion dong (9.2 million US dollars) from KOICA’s official development aid (ODA). This project was carried out from 2012 to 2015. Its ODA has been completely disbursed. In 2014, the college started recruitment and the first courses in various fields of four departments including mechanics, informatics, auto technology, electrics& electronics.

The cooperation in labor, education, training and humanitarian activities

RoK is one of the traditional markets for labor of Bac Giang province. Currently, there are more than 2,000 laborers working in Korea. They are provided with knowledge of laws and skills to meet demands of Korean enterprises and strictly obey the local laws, return the country after finishing the working contracts.

According to estimate, there are 414 Korean people granted work permit and many experts and volunteers working in the province. Korean employees have high sense of discipline and responsibility and have good relationship with Vietnamese people.

Cooperation in education and training

In 2014, the provincial people’s committee of Bac Giang province signed an agreement with Korea University of Technology and Education on training cooperation and exchange. The Korean partner sent many experts and volunteers to support the Vietnam- Korea Vocational College of Technology (VKTech), Bac Giang province. Besides, staff and teachers of VKTech have received enormous scholarships to study in Korea.

Humanitarian activities

In 2015, GNI, a Korean non-governmental organization granted 24,000 sets of new clothes to needy students with equivalent value of more than 250,000 US dollars. September 2015, the Rok’s ambassador to Vietnam visited the province and gave 20 bicycles (1,000 US dollars in total) to needy students at the Center for social affairs of the province. In 2015 and 2016, Daejin corps sent a group of volunteers to hold humanitarian activities in Yen The, Luc Nam districts and Bac Giang city with total value of 20,000 US dollars. In addition, the group of volunteers organized some performances introducing Korean culture to mass people in Bac Giang province.

In 2017, KFHI, a Korean non-governmental organization and Sam Sung Vietnam supported to improve infrastructure of various schools in the province with total aid value of 363,000 US dollars.

          In time to come, the province continue calling for and facilitating Korean partners to cooperate, do business and organize humanitarian activities in the province; boost ties and exchanges in many fields.

                                                                                                                     (Phòng HTQT tổng hợp)