Vietnam was the 8th largest trade partner and the largest ASEAN exporter of the US in 2022. (Photo: VNA)In an interview granted to theVietnam News Agency ahead of the 10th anniversary of the two countries’comprehensive partnership (July 2013 - 2023), the former US Ambassador toVietnam said trade and investment play a big role in this relationship. TheUS is Vietnam’s second largest trading partner and biggest export destination.
In 2022, bilateral trade reached a recordhigh of 138.9 billion USD. Vietnam was the 8th largest trade partner and thelargest ASEAN exporter of the US. The US was the biggest export market ofVietnam last year. Vietnam’s annual export to the US has grown almost 20% everyyear for the last 10 years.
The business mission to Vietnam last March was the biggest ever in decades coinciding with the 10th anniversary ofthe comprehensive partnership with a total of 52 companies looking for sales, sourcing, andinvestment opportunities, according to Osius.
The delegation waswelcomed by top leaders of Vietnam including Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh,Chairman of the National Assembly Vuong Dinh Hue, Chairman of the Central PartyCommittee’s Commission on Economic Affairs Tran Tuan Anh, and key stakeholdersacross several ministries and agencies.
The Vietnamese leaders rolled out the red carpet forthem, patiently listened to all the companies’ concerns, and provided detailed,thoughtful answers as to how those concerns would be addressed and who wasresponsible for follow-up action, Osius noted.
Meanwhile, USABCreaffirmed its commitment to supporting Vietnam’s efforts in maintainingmacro-economic stability and resilience and its support for Vietnam’s digitaltransformation strategy and green energy transition. Its members proposed newareas of cooperation and highlighted ongoing initiatives in various sectorsincluding agriculture, aerospace, energy, healthcare, logistics, tourism,digital economy, financial services, defencee, innovation, and creative economyin Vietnam.
“The large number of companies participating in the businessmission shows how US companies have high confidence in growth prospects andgovernment leadership of Vietnam, despite projected headwinds this year in theVietnamese economy and the global economy caused by the ongoing conflict inUkraine and sanctions on Russia,” he said.
USABC President and CEO Ted Osius (Source: vn.usembassy.gov)They are starting to seeVietnamese companies investing in US, such as Vinfast, An Phat and Sovico,which are also big customers of US companies.
“All these trendsguarantee big growth in two-way trade and investment in next 10 years andwarrant upgrading the partnership to a strategic level,” he opined, adding thata strategic partnership would, among other things, further open governmentprocurement to companies in both countries and accelerate development of keysectors such as energy, digital economy, healthcare, defence and so on.
In the interview, Osius also highlighted the two countries’cooperation in health, science and technology, education, and aerospace, defense andsecurity.
In terms ofhealth, the US has provided tuberculosis health assistance for Vietnam since2004. During the COVID-19 pandemic, it supplied 40 million doses of vaccine forthe Southeast Asian nation, which did its part to provide the US with masks andpersonal protective equipment. This isanother where the countries see a continuing area of collaboration important toboth countries.
Regarding scienceand technology, they recently had a joint committee meeting to discuss hugeissues such as space cooperation and cooperation in high-tech areas like AI,biotechnology.
Meanwhile, Vietnamhas moved up in the rankings to be the 5th largest sender of foreignstudents to the US, he said, considering this as a remarkable statement aboutthe commitment of Vietnamese students and parents wanting their kids to be educatedin the US.
The aerospace, defence, and security sector is seeing renewedinterest on both sides. Talks between the US industry and Vietnamesecounterparts are taking place more frequently. Besides, it still needs a lot ofwork to get both sides to understand each other’s processes, according toOsius./.
VNA
