ĐÀ NẴNG — Prime Minister Nguyễn Xuân Phúc hosted separate receptions in the central city of Đà Nẵng on Tuesday for corporate executives from the US, China and multinational corporations who are in Việt Nam to attend the Việt Nam Business Summit (VBS) and events within the framework of the APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting. 
Receiving a Chinese business delegation led by Vice Chairman of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT) Chen Zhou, PM Phúc asked CCPIT to actively co-ordinate with Vietnamese ministries and agencies, especially the Việt Nam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI), to boost Việt Nam-China economic ties. 
He suggested CCPIT encourage Chinese firms to import more Vietnamese goods such as agro-forestry-aquatic products, and invest in large-scale infrastructure and transport projects using high technologies. 
Chen spoke highly of Việt Nam’s business climate, adding that Chinese enterprises would choose Việt Nam as a destination to expand operations and seek joint-venture opportunities. 
Meeting with President of the US National Centre for APEC (NCAPEC) Monica Whaley, the PM wished that NCAPEC would contribute to bilateral ties by facilitating trade and investment and technology transfer. 
Whaley, for her part, said US firms highly valued Việt Nam’s efforts to build policies to fully tap achievements of the fourth industrial revolution and wanted to do long-term business and seek opportunities in the country. 
In a reception for President of Exxon Mobil Development Liam Mallon, PM Phúc expressed his wish that Exxon Mobil and US enterprises would actively contribute to discussions at APEC events and raise voice to boost regional economic connectivity. 
Mallon praised Việt Nam for its successes in attracting more and more foreign investors and wished to do long-term business in the country. 
In a meeting with Martin Nordenstahi, who is in charge of Asia Division of Abbott, PM Phúc called on Abbott to transfer technologies used in medicine and pharmaceuticals to Việt Nam and encouraged its collaboration in food safety, adding that the government’s administrative reform consulting group would acquire Abbott’s feedback to reform administrative procedures in food safety and public health care. 
Nordenstahi said Abbott’s subordinate companies were keen on expanding operations in Việt Nam and committed to assisting the country in building an open and friendly business environment via policy-making consultation. 
Talking with Global Chairman of Pricewaterhouse & Coopers (PwC) Robert E.Moritz, the Vietnamese leader hoped that PwC would introduce Việt Nam’s economy to global business community, connect Vietnamese and foreign enterprises, and share experience to fine-tune Việt Nam’s accounting and audit system up to global standards. 
As Việt Nam was restructuring its economy in combination with renewing growth model and improving competitiveness, it put focus on the restructuring of public investment, State-owned enterprises and banking-credit system, he said. 
Việt Nam was also accelerating equitisation of SOEs, including corporations operating in the fields of aviation, telecommunications and infrastructure, thus affording domestic and foreign investors chances to become strategic stakeholders, PM Phúc noted. 
Moritz extolled Việt Nam’s socio-economic reform efforts and suggested that Việt Nam should pay attention to narrowing the wealth gap and increasing connectivity among businesses, the people and authorities at all levels. 
PwC would assist Việt Nam in improving its business climate so that the country could become more attractive to foreign investors, he said. — VNS