HCMC – Addressing the fifth Vietnam-U.S. Business Summit on March 8, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh said Vietnam always regards the United States as its leading partner. He called on businesses of both countries to further strengthen their partnership and promote bilateral ties.
The event was jointly held by the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI), the America Chamber of Commerce in Vietnam (AmCham) and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, with the participation of Vietnamese and U.S. officials and representatives of businesses and associations. U.S. Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry also delivered a speech at the summit via videoconferencing.
The summit focused on measures to promote bilateral ties between Vietnam and the U.S. as well as new orientations for post-pandemic economic recovery.
According to the Vietnamese PM, the Vietnam-U.S. partnership has flourished in all fields after 26 years of normalizing their relationship. After the two countries established the Comprehensive Partnership in 2013, they witnessed remarkable achievements in their cooperation, with trade and investment being the key pillar.
Two-way trade between Vietnam and the U.S. reached US$111 billion in 2021. The U.S. is currently the largest buyer of Vietnamese goods, while Vietnam is the ninth largest trade partner of the U.S.
Besides, the U.S. has been among the largest foreign investors in Vietnam, with nearly 1,150 projects underway worth over US$10.3 billion.
Chinh spoke highly of the contribution of U.S. companies to the development of Vietnam and called on them to expand their investment in the country.
The PM said Vietnam had been negatively affected by the Covid pandemic, especially during the fourth Covid wave, which began in April 2021.
However, with high vaccination rates, the country has switched its strategy to flexibly and safely adapting to and effectively controlling Covid. It has resumed most trade and production activities and planned to reopen its doors to international tourists from March 15.
Besides, as one of the hardest-hit countries by climate change, Vietnam committed to achieving net-zero emissions by 2050 and a 30% cut in methane emissions by 2030 at the 2021 United Nations climate change conference.
Chinh called for stronger support from the U.S. Government and partners to help Vietnam meet these targets, especially green finance, clean technology, green human resources and green governing technology.
