Deputy Minister of Science and Technology Tran Viet Thanh said his ministry is urgently finalising plans to construct a Vietnam-Korea Institute of Science and Technology.

He made the statement on March 20 in Hanoi at the third Vietnam-the Republic of Korea (RoK) seminar on formulating plans for the institute which will be constructed at Hoa Lac Hi-Tech Park on an area of over 20 hectares.

The Ministry of Science and Technology (MoST) will ask for relevant ministries’ opinions late this March and dispense with necessary formalities, expecting to break ground on the project later this year.

The seminar offered opportunities for both sides to speed up the co-ordination among relevant agencies in the process of establishing the institute and improve the efficiency of using the RoK’s non-refundable aid to achieve the set targets.

The institute is expected to become a multi-sector research institute with modern technical infrastructure and highly qualified staff.

Total funding for the first phase (2014-2017) of the project is estimated at US$70 million, including US$35 million sourced from RoK’s non-refundable aid and the remaining from the Vietnamese Government’s counterpart capital.