President receives US Secretary of Commerce

This was affirmed by Ms. Penny Pritzker, US Secretary of Commerce, during a meeting with President Truong Tan Sang.

President Truong Tan Sang receives US Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker and delegation

On the evening of June 2, at the Presidential Palace, President Truong Tan Sang had a meeting with Ms. Penny Pritzker, US Secretary of Commerce and representatives of the US-ASEAN Business Council who are visiting and working in Vietnam.

Secretary Penny Pritzker sincerely thanked the Vietnamese leaders for their welcome to the delegation, emphasizing that the significance of the visit was to further enhance economic and trade relations between the United States and Vietnam, in order to concretize the comprehensive partnership that the two countries signed during the State visit of President Truong Tan Sang to the United States in July 2013.

Ms. Penny Pritzker affirmed that the United States values ​​and wishes to further strengthen relations with Vietnam in all areas, including economic, trade and investment relations. Since the establishment of the comprehensive partnership framework, cooperation between the two countries has increasingly developed and become more closely linked to the development of the region and the world.

The Minister believes that the economic, trade and investment relations between the two countries will continue to develop strongly, especially after the TPP Agreement is signed and implemented; highly appreciates the Vietnamese Government's efforts and specific measures to improve and ensure an open, stable and safe investment environment for the foreign business community, including US businesses that are investing and will invest in Vietnam. Ms. Penny Pritzker announced that many large corporations, small and medium-sized enterprises of the United States are interested in expanding their investment scale as well as making new investments in the Vietnamese market, especially after the TPP Agreement is signed.

Regarding the East Sea issue, after reiterating the stance of the US Congress and Government opposing China's unilateral and provocative actions in placing the Haiyang Shiyou 981 drilling rig deep in Vietnam's exclusive economic zone, making the situation in the East Sea extremely tense, Ms. Penny Pritzker expressed her support for resolving disputes by peaceful means.

President Truong Tan Sang welcomed US Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker's visit to Vietnam, believing that the visit is of great significance to the active implementation of the comprehensive partnership between the two countries. The President emphasized that since the normalization of bilateral relations in 1995, which were then developed with important milestones such as the signing of the bilateral trade agreement BTA and the US's support for Vietnam's entry into the WTO, the Vietnam-US relationship has made great strides in a positive direction, notably in economic, trade and investment relations.

In 2013, the total import-export turnover of goods between Vietnam and the United States reached nearly 30 billion USD, an increase of nearly 5 times compared to 2005; US investment in Vietnam has also increased continuously. Currently, the relationship between the two countries continues to have the conditions to go further through the early conclusion of negotiations to sign the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPP).

The President believes that with the important role and active support of the Minister, the US-ASEAN Business Council, the cooperative efforts of large US corporations and groups, and the US's early removal of trade barriers with Vietnam; along with Vietnam's efforts to reform administrative procedures to make them more open; economic, trade and investment relations between the two countries will certainly increase many times over the present in the near future.

President Truong Tan Sang hopes that Vietnam and the United States will promote the implementation of the Joint Statement signed by President Truong Tan Sang and President Barak Obama in July 2013, including agreements on economic, trade and investment cooperation, contributing to making the relationship between the two countries develop more strongly and more deeply, for the benefit of the two countries, for peace and stability in the Asia-Pacific region.

The President thanked the US Congress and Government for their timely and strong protest against China's unilateral illegal placement of the Haiyang Shiyou 981 drilling rig in Vietnam's exclusive economic zone. Up to now, the international community, governments and scholars of many countries have criticized China's actions, supporting Vietnam's stance of resolving disputes by peaceful means, on the basis of international law, including the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, condemning the use of force or the threat of force to resolve disputes.

The President called on international public opinion, including the United States, to protest China’s recent actions of sinking fishing boats and ramming and damaging coast guard vessels, causing property damage and threatening the lives of Vietnamese fishermen and law enforcement officers; and continuing to use both warships and military aircraft to threaten Vietnam’s law enforcement activities. These are extremely serious actions that must be stopped in order to re-establish order in accordance with international law.

President Truong Tan Sang emphasized that Vietnam always wishes to work with relevant parties to soon find solutions to restore stability, friendship, and cooperation for the common interests of the region and the world.

President Truong Tan Sang, through Secretary Penny Pritzker, sent his regards and best wishes to US President Barak Obama./.

According to VOV.online