USABC President and CEO Ted Osius (second from right) speaks at the meeting on March 21. VNA/VNS Photo

HÀ NỘI — Minister of Planning and Investment Nguyễn Chí Dũng has voiced his hope that US enterprises will become the biggest investors in Việt Nam and seize every opportunity in the countries’ development process on the basis of equality, mutual respect, and mutual benefits.

He made the remarks at a meeting with a business delegation of the US - ASEAN Business Council (USABC) in Hà Nội on Tuesday. More than 50 companies, including defence, pharmaceutical and tech firms are joining the biggest-ever US business mission to Việt Nam from March 21-23 to discuss investment and sales opportunities in the booming Southeast Asian nation.

Highlighting the two countries’ comprehensive and fruitful relations, Minister Dũng said the US is currently the second-largest trading partner and one of the leading export markets of Việt Nam. It is also an important ODA provider and the 11th biggest among the 142 countries and territories investing in the Southeast Asian nation.

Việt Nam highly values the fruitful investment and business activities of US investors and hopes they will maintain their trust and expand investment, trade, and development cooperation in the country, he noted.

The official was of the view that there is huge cooperation potential in the fields of green growth, digital economy, science-technology development, and innovation, adding that Việt Nam encourages and prioritises quality and focus-driven foreign direct investment.

The country is also implementing policies to help businesses step up investment in science-technology and improve their production capacity to engage in global supply chains, particularly in the spheres of high technology, innovation, green energy, renewable energy, finance - banking, healthcare, human resource training, infrastructure, and environment, according to Dũng.

The minister affirmed that the Vietnamese and US economies are complementary to each other and still hold much potential for cooperation and development in the future.

USABC President and CEO Ted Osius, who is a former US Ambassador to Việt Nam, said US firms strongly believe in Việt Nam’s growth prospects and always want to seek business and investment cooperation chances in the country.

Many business delegations of the USABC have come to Việt Nam in the past, but this time, there are up to 50 firms, including major ones like Boeing, Coca-Cola, CitiBank, Meta, SpaceX, Netflix, Abbott, and AES, operating in various sectors, which once again demonstrates US enterprises and investors’ interest in Việt Nam, he said.

At the meeting, representatives of US enterprises expressed the intention of setting up or expanding investment and business activities in Việt Nam.

Minister Dũng said Việt Nam always hopes to attract investment from the US, and that US businesses’ contributions to bilateral investment and trade ties are considerable, via not only economic partnerships but also policy opinions and proposals about investment climate improvement and policy and law perfection submitted to the Vietnamese Government.

The US currently has 1,223 valid projects worth over US$11.4 billion in Việt Nam, ranking 11th among the 142 countries and territories investing here. Meanwhile, it ranks 10th among the 80 countries where Vietnamese firms are investing in.

Bilateral trade hit a record of over $123 billion in 2022, up 11 per cent year on year, turning the US into the second biggest trading partner of Việt Nam, and Việt Nam the eighth largest one of the North American nation. — VNS