President Tran Dai Quang speaks at the workshop (Photo: VNA)The event was jointly held by the VietnamChamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) and the American Chamber of Commerce(AmCham).
Vietnam hopes to export to the US its farm produce, seafood, timber products,garment-textile, electronics, and consumer products, while importing hi-techcommodities to serve the local economy, he said.
He added that the country highly valuesinvestment projects of US businesses and vows to provide the optimal conditionsfor foreign investors to make long-term investment.
The successful economic cooperation will createan important foundation for the bilateral comprehensive partnership to grow ina sustainable, constructive and mutually beneficial manner, he said.
He told participants that Vietnam has gainedsignificant achievements over the past 30 years of renovation and become amiddle-income developing country, he said, adding that the gross domesticproduct (GDP) per capita is expected to reach 3,200-3,500 USD by 2020 while theeconomic size will stand at nearly 350 billion USD.
“As an active and responsible member of theASEAN Economic Community, Vietnam is proactively speeding up internationaleconomic integration. The country has also signed 12 free trade agreements(FTA) and is pushing ahead with the negotiations of four others,” he said.
The Southeast Asian nation has also decided toget involved in the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) – a new-generation trade pactwith high and comprehensive commitments with the hope of joining deeply in theglobal value chain, he added.
He affirmed that Vietnam is persistentlypursuing three breakthroughs, namely improving the socialist-oriented marketeconomy institutions, developing high-quality human resources, and buildingsynchronous and modern infrastructure.
Many multinational groups, including those fromthe US, are doing business successfully in Vietnam, he said, noting that the USis ranked eighth among countries and territories having direct investment inVietnam.
The bilateral trade has incessantly increasedfrom 15 billion USD in 2008 to 52 billion USD in 2016. The US exports toVietnam hit over 10 billion USD in 2016, a year-on-year rise of 43 percent, hesaid.
The Vietnam National Oil and Gas Group(PetroVietnam) and the US-based Exxon Mobil Corp have signed a frameworkagreement on the Blue Whale project development and gas sale worth around 10billion USD, which is expected to make the US one of the leading investors inVietnam, he noted.
The relations between Vietnam and the US haveseen significant strides according to the orientations of the bilateralcomprehensive partnership set up in 2013 as well as the Joint Vision Statementreached during the historical visit to the US by Party General Secretary NguyenPhu Trong in July 2015 and the Vietnam-US Joint Statement reached during thetrip to Vietnam by former President Barack Obama in May 2016.
President Quang said that US President DonaldTrump’s acceptance of the invitation to attend the APEC Economic Leaders’Meeting 2017 in Vietnam demonstrates the US’s interest in promoting thebilateral cooperation.
“Development cooperation continues to be animpetus to the bilateral relations to push trade and investment ties,” he said.
US Ambassador to Vietnam Ted Osius said USenterprises are keen to access the Vietnamese market and affirmed thedevelopment prospects in the countries’ economic, trade and investmentrelations is a foundation for the bilateral future relations.
Tami Overby, Senior Vice President for Asia atthe US Chamber of Commerce, said the organization is seeking specific measuresto increase the two nations’ trade, including the prospect of a bilateral freetrade agreement.-VNA
VNA
