The conference, held by the nationalcarrier Vietnam Airlines and two travel groups – Saigon Tourists and Thien MinhGroup – to boost the cooperation between enterprises of the two countries andto introduce Vietnam to US friends and partners.
Addressing the event, PM Chinh highlightedthe development of the Vietnam-US ties, benefiting both countries andcontributing to peace, cooperation and development in the world.
The Government leader affirmed thateconomic, investment, trade and science-education cooperation is an importantpillar in the bilateral relationship.
In the very challenging year of 2021 due tothe COVID-19 pandemic, two-way trade still reached 112 billion USD, accountingfor nearly one-third of the total US-ASEAN trade turnover.
The US is Vietnam’s second largest tradepartner while Vietnam is the US’ 9th largest, he noted, adding that tradebetween the two countries has contributed to making Vietnam one of the 20largest import-export countries in the world.
The PM expected the economic cooperationbetween Vietnam and the US to continue flourishing, mentioning a number ofpriority areas for Vietnam such as capital market development, digital andenergy transformation, climate change response, tourism, and trade... andsuggested US companies study opportunities and advance cooperation in thesefields.
He also sought assistance from US partners inpolicy consultation, capitals, human resources, infrastructure, technology, andgovernance.
In terms of tourism, the US continually inthe list of Vietnam’s biggest markets. Before the pandemic, the number oftourists from the US reached more than 746,000 in 2019, with the year-on-year growthrate in the 2014-19 averaging 11 per cent, PM Chinh said.
The PM said that thanks to internal effortsand the support of friends and international partners, Vietnam has put COVID-19under control domestically and has completely reopened tourism and air routes.
The first major group of tourists to returnto Vietnam after the official resumption of inbound and outbound tourism fromMarch 15, 2022 was a US delegation, he noted.
PM called on foreign investors, including thosefrom the US, to continue to cooperate with Vietnam in tourism in the spirit of‘harmonised benefits, shared risks.’
Speaking at the event, US Ambassador to VietnamMarc E. Knapper stressed that aviation, tourism, education, people-to-peopleexchanges are an important pillar in the bilateral relations.
He said before the pandemic, there were upto 30,000 Vietnamese students in the US and he is committed to helping roll outmeasures to double this figure, while at the same time, bringing more USstudents to study in Vietnam.
At the event, Vietnam Airlines has alsointroduced the direct flight between Vietnam and the US – with four flights aweek between San Francisco and HCM City. The airline plans to increase thefrequency on the route to daily flights next year, and at the same time isresearching a cargo service between HCM City and Los Angeles.
Meanwhile, Saigontourist Group affirms thatit will utilise its partner network in the US and North America to help withtourism recovery and attract tourists from these lucrative markets.
At the conference, Vietnamese businesses discussedwith US partners potential goods and services that can be imported to Vietnam,and business investment opportunities in the US.
The PM, along with the US Ambassador toVietnam and leaders of San Francisco, witnessed the exchange of MoUs betweenorganisations and businesses of the two sides.
Notably, Bac Giang province, VietnamAirlines and US partners reached a cooperation agreement on export promotionand consumption of lychee and agricultural products.
Vietnam’s budget carrier Vietjet and UPS,the world's leading shipping and logistics group, also reached an agreement totransport international goods through the two sides’ extensive regional andglobal network and logistics infrastructure./.