Vietnamese Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Hong Dien had working sessions with representatives of US businesses on June 9 as part of his working visit to the US.
At the meeting with Chief Executive Officer of Warburg Pincus Investment Fund and Chairman of the US-ASEAN Business Council (USABC) Jeffrey Pearlman, Dien highly appreciated the results of economic and trade cooperation between Viet Nam and the US in recent times, and affirmed that the US is one of the leading important economic partners of Viet Nam.
He emphasised that the Viet Nam - US economic relations are complementary, helping to create competitive advantages, promoting sustainable development, in line with the orientation of building an independent, self-reliant economy and deep international integration of Viet Nam.
The minister called on the USABC and the US business community continue to support Viet Nam in the process of negotiating a reciprocal trade agreement with the US, and coordinate to promote the investment and business potential and opportunities in Viet Nam to US partners.
For his part, Pearlman expressed his confidence in Viet Nam's economic development prospects and affirmed that Viet Nam is currently Warburg Pincus' second largest market in Asia.
He said that Warburg Pincus is committed to long-term investment in Viet Nam and will have a positive voice to support Viet Nam in promoting bilateral economic and trade relations.
Pearlman also said that he will soon work with US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick, US Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent and US Trade Representative (USTR) Jamieson Greer to propose three contents. Specifically, the USABC supports a balanced and harmonious trade agreement between Viet Nam and the US; the US needs to strengthen cooperation with ASEAN - a region that plays a strategic role in the US policy; and the current trade deficit is a natural result of the relationship between a developed economy like the US and an economy in the early stages of development like Viet Nam, which needs to be assessed objectively and comprehensively.
The two sides also discussed potential areas of cooperation such as energy, industry, digital transformation, green transition, logistics and supply chain development. The USABC is committed to continuing to accompany Viet Nam in its efforts to maintain macroeconomic stability and sustainable development.
On the afternoon of the same day, Dien had a working session with leaders of the American Apparel and Footwear Association (AAFA) and leading US textile, garment and footwear enterprises such as Gap, Levis Strauss, Harnes Brands, Under Amour, among others.
Dien highly appreciated the role of the AAFA in promoting Viet Nam-US trade relations, and thanked the association for always being an effective bridge between US enterprises and manufacturers in Viet Nam.
He affirmed that Viet Nam is ready to be a reliable partner in the global supply chain and wants to strengthen coordination to build a fair, highly adaptive and sustainable trade environment.
At the meetings, Dien asked large US associations and corporations, with strong influence, to help give opinions to the Trump Administration to convey Viet Nam's message that the comprehensive strategic partnership between Viet Nam and the US has been strongly promoted, creating favourable conditions for US companies to invest and do business in Viet Nam. Therefore, cooperation with Viet Nam will bring long-term strategic benefits and contribute to improving the trade balance towards fairness, harmony and sustainability between the two countries. Viet Nam needs to be treated as a priority trade partner of the US.
Viet Nam proposed the US work with the Southeast Asian country to resolve current trade and economic issues, promptly recognise Viet Nam as a market economy and remove Viet Nam from the strategic export control list (D1-D3), thus helping to bring practical benefits to the two countries in both the short and long terms.
