KOREA INSTITUTE OF GEOSCIENCE AND MINERAL RESOURCES

MOU Signing Ceremony between KIGAM and VGD

A Memorandum of Understanding(hereinafter referred to as "MOU") between Korea Institute of Geoscience and Mineral Resources (KIGAM) and Viet Nam Geological Department (VGD), which is under the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MONRE) of the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam, was signed on June 22-23 in Hanoi, Vietnam. The MOU was signed by Dr. Pyeong-Koo Lee, the President of KIGAM and Dr. Tran Binh Trong, the General Director of VGD.

VGD is an organization directly under the MONRE, with the function of advising and assisting the Minister by performing the tasks of state management in the field of geology and mineral investigations. It also organizes the implementation of public services related to geology according to the provisions of law. VGD is playing a major role as a representative organization in CCOP* at the moment.

*CCOP: Coordinating Committee for Geoscience Programmes in East and Southeast Asia

This MOU is focused on cooperation on joint investigations, exploration and technical exchange in geological science, urban geology, mineral resources, etc. KIGAM will technologically support Vietnam especially in the field of minerals beneficiation and metallurgy. Besides, specific cooperation to encourage Korean domestic private companies to enter the Vietnamese mineral resources market is also pledged by both sides. Regarding the creation of a research center related to critical minerals, which will be established in Vietnam in the foreseeable future with the support of Korean government, it is expected that KIGAM's technological know-how will play a huge role to lay a foundation of that.

Dr. Pyeong-Koo Lee emphasized that "Cooperation with Vietnam, which has the world's second-largest rare earth elements(REE) deposits, deserves to be welcomed for us as it can lower Korea's dependence on China deposits. We will do our best to help Vietnam to become a new major critical minerals supplier with KIGAM's know-how in mineral resources exploration, development and utilization that KIGAM has gained so far."