PortMoresby (VNA) - Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc on November 17 hosteda reception for representatives of several prestigious US companies on theoccasion of his attendance at the 26thAPEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea.

These firms are running many investment, production and business projects inVietnam in the fields of biotechnology, product quality inspection, healthcare, rare disease treatment and tobacco industry.

The Vietnamese government leader congratulated the US enterprises on their successesin business in Vietnam, saying that they have earned credibility among peopleand businesses in Vietnam.

The US-ASEAN Business Council (USABC) has worked closely with Vietnam, andsupported Vietnam in promoting cooperation between Vietnamese and US enterprises,thus contributing to balancing the trade ties between the two countries, PMPhuc said.

He noted that US firms have invested over 12 billion USD in Vietnam so far, andthe two-way trade hit over 55 billion USD. The bilateral trade scale surged by 35times in the last 18 years, with the US’s export to Vietnam was up 37 percent -the highest level in recent year.

According to the PM, there is plenty of room for the two nations to strengthen cooperationin the coming time, especially in trade, investment and business. He affirmed thatthe Vietnamese Government is willing to listen to proposals and dialogues from USinvestors during their operation in Vietnam.

The US business representatives said they want to expand their investment inVietnam in health care, hi-tech application in inspecting product quality, andin supporting Vietnamese farmers in improving economic value of the livestock industry.

Touching upon a number of policies and Government’s documents in health care,agriculture, livestock and tobacco industry, the business delegates said theywish to hold more dialogues with Vietnam’s authorities, especially State managementagencies. They added that their firms are ready to arrange for US experts andscientists to join the Vietnamese Government in building State management policiesfor a number of specific sectors.

PM Phuc affirmed that the Vietnamese Government always creates favourableconditions for foreign investors, including those from the US to operate inVietnam, noting that Vietnam is constantly improving its policies and institutionalsystem to be in line with international practices and comply with trade agreementsthat Vietnam has joined, towards opening the market for more foreign investors toenter Vietnam.

Vietnam is open to feedback and recommendations from foreign investors so as toremove obstacles to production and business activities, the PM said and calledon US firms to continue promoting their investment, production and business inthe Vietnamese market.-VNA