Senior financial officials of South Korea and Vietnam held a meeting and discussed bilateral cooperation, the Financial Services Commission (FSC) said Thursday. Lee Hyung-ju, standing commissioner of the FSC, took part in a Hanoi forum on Wednesday, titled "Towards a Sustainable Future - Enhancing Korea-Vietnam Financial Synergies." The forum was hosted by Seoul's Council on International Financial Cooperation and jointly sponsored by Vietnam's central bank, the State Bank of Vietnam, and State Securities Commission. Vietnam is South Korea's third-largest trading partner after the United States and China, and the second-largest destination for South Korean financial firms after the U.S. As of end-March, 40 South Korean financial companies were operating 53 branch offices in Vietnam, with combined total assets of US$19.6 billion, according to the FSC. In a bilateral meeting Wednesday with Pham Quang Dzung, vice chairman of the Vietnamese central bank, Lee expressed hope for expanded business opportunitie s for South Korean financial firms in Vietnam, which he said will contribute to the joint development of their two countries. Lee also met with the head of Vietnam's securities commission, Vu Thi Chan Phuong, on Thursday and discussed ways to promote cooperation and exchange between the countries' capital markets, the FSC said. Source: Yonhap News Agency