Business discussions to advance US-Vietnam trade and investment

Deputy Prime Minister Trinh Dinh Dung speaking at the 2019 US-Vietnam Business Summit

The 2019 US-Vietnam Business Summit celebrated 25 years of trade and investment and welcomed Deputy Prime Minister Trinh Dinh Dung and over 250 government and industry leaders from both countries to build on the current positive momentum in bilateral economic relations and to address the many areas where inconsistencies, inefficiencies, and unfair practices persist.

Welcoming guests in his keynote speech, AmCham chairwoman Natasha Ansell stated: “American companies have invested billions of dollars here, integrating Vietnam into the global supply chain, creating quality jobs for Vietnamese workers, and opening a new market for US goods and services. Most importantly, our companies understand the link between business operations and society and do their best to conduct business in a way that creates long-term economic and social value.”

Guests at the event

The business summit included discussions on a wide range of issues important to Vietnam’s economic development, including promoting sustainable investment and policies, driving future growth through the digital economy, using the internet economy to fuel growth and innovation, addressing Vietnam’s energy development needs, and ways for Vietnam to benefit from ongoing global trade developments.

At the event, the US Chamber of Commerce released a blueprint that outlined a series of recommendations for enhancing commercial relations.

It called for intensifying work under the existing Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA) between the two countries, with specific agreements in areas such as digital economy, customs and trade facilitation, and energy infrastructure.

Vu Tien Loc, chairman of the VCCI, said: “Sustainable development, reform, and integration are the most important keywords in Vietnam’s development strategy. Vietnam is now aiming for higher quality and more sustainable structure for investment and trade. On the journey to achieve this goal, the US is one of the most important partners of Vietnam. Bilateral trade grew from $1.5 billion in 2000 to $59 billion in 2018, and Vietnam is now the 16^th-largest trade partner of the US, while the US is now Vietnam’s third-largest trading partner. And we hope that Vietnam will soon be one of the 10 largest trading partners of the US.”

Experts at the event added that as Vietnam develops, the two countries need to work together to solve new challenges such as addressing the growing shortfall in electricity, the increasingly bad air quality, and environmental degradation caused by poor waste management.