Prime Minister Phạm Minh Chính and Vice President of International Public Policy & Government Affairs at Amazon Susan Pointer had talks in Hà Nội on Thursday. — VNA/VNS Photo Dương Giang

HÀ NỘI — Prime Minister Phạm Minh Chính urged online retail giant Amazon to further expand its operations in Việt Nam while receiving Vice President of International Public Policy & Government Affairs at Amazon Susan Pointer.

PM Chính affirmed that Việt Nam always considers the United States one of its top important partners. In the joint statement on the upgrade of Việt Nam-US ties to a comprehensive strategic partnership and at a meeting between the Vietnamese PM and US President Joe Biden in September 2023, the two sides defined cooperation in sci-tech, digital transformation and innovation as one of the new breakthroughs in the bilateral relationship. This serves as a significant platform and opportunity for businesses from both countries, including Amazon, to cooperate and invest for mutual development.

Việt Nam is fostering the development of digital economy, digital citizens, digital society and digital government, including e-commerce, with the aim of increasing the digital economy's contribution to the country's GDP to 20 per cent by 2025 and 30 per cent by 2030, he said.

The PM proposed Amazon share its expertise with Việt Nam in developing e-commerce, cross-border trade and cloud computing, assist the country in training the workforce in e-commerce, business management, logistics, system optimisation, and support small and medium-sized enterprises in digital transformation, branding, and joining in global supply chains.

As Việt Nam will inaugurate the National Innovation Centre in the coming time, he suggested Amazon provide consultancy and collaborate on specific projects to improve the centre’s operations and help Việt Nam fully tap its potential to achieve its goals in digital transformation and innovation.

With a population of 100 million who favour e-commerce, Amazon holds huge potential to develop its market in Việt Nam, the government leader said.

On this occasion, he called on Amazon to push for the US Government’s early recognition of Việt Nam's market economy status, saying that this would create more favorable conditions for enterprises from both countries to do business together.

Pointer, for her part, vowed to work closely with Vietnamese ministries, agencies and enterprises to enhance the effectiveness of cooperation between the two sides.

Speaking highly of the business environment, and investment opportunities in Việt Nam, she said Amazon will engage deeper in the country's digital transformation process, develop e-commerce and cloud computing, raise awareness and provide skills training for the Vietnamese workforce, collaborate with Vietnamese enterprises to produce products and equipment, and bring more Vietnamese products and services to the world.

Pointer also pledged to help Vietnamese startups reach out to the world as suggested by the PM. — VNS