Seoul's industry ministry said South Korea and Vietnam agreed to boost bilateral trade and deepen cooperation in nuclear power and other renewable energy sources as they marked the 30th anniversary of diplomatic ties, Yonhap news agency reported.  

According to the Industry Ministry, the consensus was reached last week when Industry Minister Lee Chang-yang met his Vietnamese counterpart Nguyn Hng Dien and held a meeting of the bilateral Joint Industry and Free Trade Agreement Committee.  

The Vietnamese minister's visit to Seoul came as the two countries signed a memorandum of understanding on enhancing information exchange and cooperation in the field of nuclear energy.  

South Korea's Doosan Energy Company and the Korea Institute of Electronics Technology signed a separate memorandum of understanding on clean energy cooperation with Vietnam's energy Agency.  

Hanwha Energy and Vietnam's Trade Ministry also signed an agreement on energy consulting to share energy transition policy measures and technical knowledge on hydrogen energy and energy storage systems, according to Vietnam's trade Ministry.  

"Minister Li asked Vietnam to care about and support South Korean companies' participation in oil and gas exploration and liquefied natural gas power generation projects in Vietnam," the ministry said in a press release.  

The two countries also vowed to work together to achieve two-way trade of US $100 billion by 2023 and US $150 billion by 2030 by making maximum use of their trade platforms, the ministry added.  

Bilateral trade in 2021 was $80.7 billion.  In the first 11 months of this year, it reached $81.1 billion, according to government figures.