Prime Minister hopes US businesses "seize the opportunity"

The Prime Minister shared this at the reception.A business delegation of the US-ASEAN Business Council (US-ABC) led by US-ABC President and CEO Alexander Feldman, on the evening of March 14, at the Government headquarters.

Recalling his recent meeting with US President Donald Trump on the occasion of the US-North Korea Summit held in Hanoi, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc said the two sides had a frank discussion on trade and investment relations, opening up new cooperation space between the two countries.

The Prime Minister believes that the visit of the US business delegation this time will continue to promote economic, trade and investment relations between the two countries; affirming that the Vietnamese Government always creates all conditions for US businesses to do business smoothly in Vietnam; and is ready to listen to all recommendations from US businesses.

Congratulating Vietnam on its success in hosting the US-North Korea Summit, Mr. Alexander Feldman believes that bilateral relations will develop more strongly thanks to the recent visit to Vietnam by the US President.

This year marks the 35th anniversary of the establishment of US-ABC and the 25th anniversary of the normalization of Vietnam-US relations. Mr. Alexander Feldman said that over the past 25 years, the cooperation between the two countries has achieved encouraging results.

In particular, bilateral trade turnover has increased from a modest figure of several hundred million USD in 1994 to nearly 60 billion USD in 2018. The successes that Vietnam has achieved in recent times as well as the results of bilateral cooperation are not entirely coincidental.

“We are very aware that the Vietnamese Government has been very proactive in dialogue and exchange with the business community, including US businesses. The Vietnamese Government has been very proactive in economic, trade and investment negotiations and the result of that effort is the success we are witnessing today,” he said.

The US-ABC Chairman expressed pride in contributing to the success of Vietnam's socio-economic development through investment projects in Vietnam.

He said that in the past week, US-ABC has brought 3 business delegations to work with Vietnamese authorities. This is the largest business delegation that US-ABC has ever organized to work in an ASEAN country. This week alone, over 50 leading US businesses have visited and worked in Vietnam.

According to Mr. Alexander Feldman, this is an important and very special time for US-ABC. US businesses are excited and looking forward to seizing the opportunity when Vietnam has ratified the CPTPP Agreement and will join RCEP. US-ABC also looks forward to Vietnam assuming the ASEAN Chairmanship Year 2020 to open up many new cooperation opportunities.

At the meeting, representatives of US businesses highly appreciated Vietnam's economic prospects; expressed gratitude to the Vietnamese Government, ministries and sectors for always cooperating closely with US businesses doing successful business in Vietnam, and wished to continue expanding investment in Vietnam in the coming time.

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc highly appreciated the businesses participating in the delegation as all of them are large and prestigious US enterprises; at the same time, he expressed that Vietnam hopes that large US corporations will continue to invest heavily in Vietnam in the coming time. The Prime Minister also answered a number of recommendations and concerns of US businesses regarding a number of specific fields.

The Prime Minister said that he has directly directed the relevant agencies to regularly exchange and support many US businesses to invest and do business in Vietnam. According to the Prime Minister, the direct flight between Vietnam and the US will create more favorable conditions for economic development, trade, investment, tourism as well as cultural exchange between businesses and people of the two countries.

The Prime Minister affirmed that the economic, trade and investment relations between the two countries are currently developing very well with the support and encouragement of the two governments. This is a favorable opportunity for investment and business in Vietnam. "I hope you will seize this opportunity, make your decisions soon and the Vietnamese government, myself and our colleagues are always willing to welcome you, listen to your opinions, accompany and support you to succeed," the Prime Minister expressed.

In the coming time, the Prime Minister asked US-ABC to continue to pay attention to the Vietnamese market and have a long-term, stable business plan to connect Vietnam in the global value chain, contributing to promoting bilateral economic, trade and investment cooperation. He asked US businesses to pay attention to high-quality investment projects in science and technology, human resources and support the development of Vietnam's supporting industries.

The Prime Minister hopes that US-ABC will have a positive voice towards the administration of President Donald Trump on the potential for cooperation with Vietnam, and advocate and promote the bilateral relationship to continue to develop stably and long-term. “We told Mr. Donald Trump that the two countries’ economies complement each other, and cooperation is mutually beneficial.”

Duc Tuan