HANOI — Vietnam’s top leader To Lam welcomed South Korean President Lee Jae Myung in Hanoi on April 22, unveiling a dozen cooperation pacts spanning tech innovation, semiconductors, AI, and nuclear power development as bilateral trade hit US$90 billion last year.
At the presidential palace, Mr. Lam hailed the visit as proof of “high political trust,” inviting Seoul’s firms to ramp up investments in infrastructure, smart cities, data centers, smart seaports, and beyond. This marked their second summit in under a year, after Mr. Lam’s August 2025 trip to Seoul.
Mr. Lee, noting unprecedented geopolitical tensions, urged both nations’ people, businesses, and governments to build on these milestones. Key agreements included a “master plan” for science, technology, and innovation; digital collaboration; intellectual property; and nuclear plant frameworks.
As the newly installed president and Communist Party chief, Mr. Lam champions a “new growth model” emphasizing digital and tech advances to dodge the “middle-income trap” a World Bank-noted hurdle around 10 percent of US GDP per capita. Samsung, Vietnam’s top foreign investor with over US$23 billion committed, eyes another US$4 billion for a chip packaging plant in Thai Nguyen province.
The partners aim for US$150 billion in two-way trade by 2030, cementing South Korea’s role as Vietnam’s leading investor and trade partner.