South Korean President Park Geun-hye is in Vietnam where she has made a pitch for projects to build nuclear power plants in the country.

Park met Vietnamese President Truong Tan Sang in the capital Hanoi on Monday. She is being accompanied by 79 senior South Korean corporate officials on her visit to the country.

Park and Sang spoke to reporters after discussing bilateral cooperation mainly in economic areas.

Park expressed hope for winning orders from Vietnam for nuclear plant construction projects. She said the 2 sides agreed that South Korea's experience in nuclear power development and technologies would contribute to fostering Vietnam's nuclear power industry.

President Sang said his country wants to further strengthen economic ties with South Korea. He said Vietnam wants to conclude a bilateral free trade agreement, now under negotiation, next year.

Russia and Japan were the successful bidders for the first and second nuclear power plants in Vietnam.

Vietnam plans to build more nuclear plants to ease electricity shortages caused by the country's rapid economic growth.

Competition for winning additional bids is expected to intensify among countries such as South Korea and the United States.

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This news was published on September 9, 2013.

Source: http://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/english/news/asia.html