Vietnam and US Treasury deepen financial cooperation

Photo: Duc Minh

Minister Tuan expressed his appreciation for Kaproth and his delegation’s continued commitment to maintaining regular exchanges and dialogue with Vietnam.

“Today’s meeting once again demonstrates the importance both ministries attach to the bilateral economic and financial policy dialogue mechanism, which helps strengthen mutual understanding, build trust and boost substantive cooperation between our two countries,” Minister Tuan said.

Responding to the US delegation’s particular interest in the impact of Vietnam’s latest institutional reforms, the MoF minister shared impressive figures illustrating the country’s sweeping administrative restructuring effort, which is being implemented nationwide.

Vietnam has undertaken a far-reaching reorganisation of its administrative system, reducing the number of provinces and centrally governed cities from 63 to 34, eliminating all 696 district-level administrative units, and streamlining the number of communes from more than 10,590 to 2,321.

The MoF itself has been restructured through the merger of the former MoF and the Ministry of Planning and Investment, while also assuming all functions previously carried out by the Commission for the Management of State Capital at Enterprises and the National Financial Supervisory Commission.

With oversight of key nationwide systems including Customs, Taxation, the State Treasury and State Reserves, the MoF now accounts for approximately 70 per cent of the total staffing across central government ministries and agencies, creating an unprecedented concentration of resources for the implementation of national policies.

Against this backdrop, Minister Tuan reaffirmed the MoF's determination to fulfil the country’s five-year national financial strategy and medium-term public investment plan through two key priorities.

The first is improving investment efficiency, with the government aiming to reduce the Incremental Capital-Output Ratio from the current 6.4 to 4.5.

The second is strengthening domestic enterprises. According to the minister, the MoF plays a central role in designing policies to support nearly one million Vietnamese businesses, helping them grow and integrate more deeply into global value chains.

He noted that the policy framework is now largely in place, with the next priority being effective implementation to ensure businesses can access capital and support mechanisms more efficiently.

Representing the US delegation, Kaproth commended Vietnam’s strategy. He observed that while foreign-invested enterprises in Vietnam remain highly dynamic, domestic enterprises have yet to achieve comparable levels of development. Vietnam’s efforts to narrow the performance gap between the two sectors therefore send a very positive signal to the market, he said.

During the meeting, Kaproth also proposed two areas for deeper cooperation. First, on investment security, specialised teams from the US Department of the Treasury are prepared to expand discussions and share experience with Vietnam on investment screening and investment security mechanisms.

Second, regarding technical assistance for Vietnam’s State Treasury, Kaproth confirmed that the US Treasury had received the latest proposal from the Vietnamese side. The US plans to move forward with support schemes covering internal control systems, government bond portfolio management and the preparation of state financial reports.

After the meeting, Robert Kaproth congratulated Minister Tuan and expressed his expectations for the minister’s participation in the Finance Ministers’ Conference in Hong Kong this October.

The event is expected to provide an important platform for further bilateral discussions, advancing existing commitments and deepening the comprehensive financial partnership between the two countries.

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