Vietnam welcomes US investors, says PM
The Vietnamese government is always willing to listen to, share opinions and support US firms to do business in the country for a win-win partnership, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh told leaders of major US firms in Hanoi on March 22.
CEOs of 52 large US firms, including Netflix, Boeing, Apple, Coca-Cola, Pfizer, Abbott, Visa, Citibank, Meta, Ford, Fedex Express, are on a working trip to Vietnam to seek cooperation opportunities in various fields. The trip is led by Ted Osius, president & CEO of the US-ASEAN Business Council (USABC).
At the meeting, Chinh highly appreciated the US business community’s operations and responsibility in Vietnam in recent times, and assured the Vietnamese government always protects the legitimate rights and interests of the investors whey they do business in the country.
The government stays ready to create conditions for the foreign investment sector to develop in the long term, and at the same time to cooperate and compete in a healthy manner with other economic sectors in the spirit of fairness, harmony of benefits and risk sharing, he said.
The Prime Minister reaffirmed that Vietnam always considers the US as one of its most important partners and welcomes the US’ policy of supporting a strong, independent and prosperous Vietnam.
Vietnam wishes to promote its comprehensive partnership with the US in a substantive and deep manner in respect of the independence, sovereignty, territorial integrity and political institutions of each other, he said.
He took the occasion to thank the US Government for supporting Vietnam in COVID-19 prevention and control, and thank the US-ASEAN Business Council for accompanying Vietnam to overcome difficulties and recover from the pandemic.
Representatives of the USABC and US businesses expressed their confidence in Vietnam’s future economic growth prospects and vowed to make long-term investment in the country, especially in the fields of green transformation, digital transformation, energy transition, finance, manufacturing, automobile industry, entertainment, health care, science, and logistics.
They put forward recommendations regarding legal framework on e-commerce, information security and accessibility, tax policy, capital market reform and visa policy to support their operations in the country.
The Vietnamese government leader acknowledged the US firms’ recommendations, and said he would direct relevant ministries and agencies to address the issues of their concerns.
Vietnam stays ready to support US firms to expand their investment in the country, and at the same time, creates conditions for its businesses to engage more deeply in the production value chain of US firms, he stated, suggesting the two sides work closely together to remove barriers to production and business, and to improve the business investment environment.
He proposed that the USABC act as a bridge between the two countries’ business communities, and promote bilateral cooperation by optimizing the potential of the Vietnam - US Comprehensive Partnership, especially in the field of economy, trade and investment.
Vietnam is willing to import machinery, equipment, tools and spare parts from the US to improve the US-Vietnam trade balance, Chinh told US investors.
He proposed that the USABC support the Vietnamese Government to cooperate with the US Government in forming a bilateral cooperation mechanism on investment promotion in order to assess the potential, demand and investment cooperation opportunities between the two countries and increase the two-way investment flows.
He also called on the USABC to support the US Government to increase economic and trade activities with ASEAN, contributing to maintaining peace, stability, cooperation and development in Southeast Asia in particular and the Asia-Pacific region in particular.
