Prime Minister urges U.S. businesses to support mutually beneficial trade agreement

Present at the session included Deputy Prime Ministers Ho Duc Phoc and Nguyen Chi Dung, leaders from Vietnamese ministries, agencies, and local authorities, representatives of the U.S. Embassy in Viet Nam, the American Chamber of Commerce in Ha Noi, and representatives from 50 major U.S. companies investing in Viet Nam.

This is the Prime Minister's second meeting with U.S. businesses in just two months, demonstrating the Vietnamese government's strong appreciation for the business community and its willingness to resolve obstacles and create the most favorable conditions for the U.S. business community to continue investing, expanding, and achieving success in the Southeast Asian country.

In 2024, bilateral trade reached US$134.6 billion. By the end of 2024, American investors poured US$11.94 billion in over 1,400 projects in Viet Nam.

Meanwhile, the Southeast Asian nation invested in 252 projects in the U.S., with a total investment capital of over US$1.36 billion, ranking 6th out of 83 outbound investment destinations.

Viet Nam is the 8th largest trading partner of the U.S. in the world and 4th largest export market of the U.S. in ASEAN.

At the session, American businesses representatives highly appreciated Viet Nam's investment and business environment, especially the Government's recent efforts to further improve transparency and efficiency, including eliminating at least 30 percent of unnecessary business and investment conditions, reducing the processing time of administrative procedures by at least 30 percent, and cutting administrative costs by at least 30 percent.

Recently, Viet Nam has committed to promoting balanced and sustainable investment and trade cooperation with the U.S. by increasing imports of goods in which the U.S. has strengths and Viet Nam has demand, reducing import tariffs on U.S. products, and addressing obstacles faced by U.S. projects operating in Viet Nam, they noted.

Addressing the event, Prime Minister Pham called on the business community and the U.S. Embassy to actively convey Viet Nam's efforts and goodwill to President Donald Trump's Administration, encouraging the U.S. to adopt the most favorable approach among possible solutions to promote balanced and sustainable trade cooperation with Viet Nam.

He also expressed hope that the two sides would soon reach a tariff agreement that brings both immediate and long-term benefits to both countries, their people, and their businesses.

Sharing Viet Nam's perspective on the ongoing trade negotiations between the U.S. and China, the Prime Minister said, Viet Nam does not interfere in the internal affairs of other countries and wishes for all nations to develop, in the interest of stability, peace, cooperation, and development in the region and around the world.

Viet Nam especially hopes to avoid the outbreak of trade wars, particularly between major powers such as the U.S. and China and encourages nations to enhance cooperative relationships based on the rule of law, adhere to international commitments and the United Nations Charter, and avoid actions that negatively impact other countries.

Prime Minister Pham expressed his hope that U.S.–China trade negotiations will make meaningful progress, resulting in mutually beneficial agreements for both parties and for the broader international community.

The Vietnamese Government vows to create all favorable conditions and protect the legal and legitimate rights and interests of businesses, including U.S. businesses, to enable them to cooperate, invest, and conduct sustainable and effective business in the country, asserted the Prime Minister.

Viet Nam continues to reform its visa policies to facilitate foreign arrivals, including those from the U.S.  into the country, and wishes that the U.S. Administration will consider adopting more favorable visa policies for Vietnamese citizens, said Pham./.