At their meeting, the two officials agreed that Vietnam and the U.S. have highly complementary economies with great potential for cooperation.
Dien stated that Vietnam has a strong and stable demand for U.S. products, equipment, and services, especially in hi-tech and energy sectors. He affirmed Vietnam’s commitment to fostering a transparent and healthy trade environment, noting that Vietnam stands ready to boost coordination with the U.S. side in combating trade fraud, origin fraud, and illegal transshipment.
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Vietnamese Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Hong Dien (right) meets with U.S. Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick in Washington, D.C. on May 22. |
With its goal of becoming a developed, high-income country by 2045, Vietnam considers the U.S. one of its key strategic partners and seeks to advance economic and trade relations in a balanced, sustainable, and win-win manner, the Vietnamese minister said.
He called on the U.S. side to work with Vietnam to resolve existing economic and trade issues, soon recognize Vietnam's market economy status, and remove the country from export control lists (D1, D3) that limit access to high-tech products. Dien emphasized that these steps will deliver practical benefits to both nations and help improve the trade balance in a fair, harmonious, and sustainable direction.
For his part, Lutnick praised Vietnam's efforts and goodwill in negotiating a bilateral reciprocal trade agreement and welcomed the two countries’ strengthened cooperation in hi-tech sectors and industries with high-added value.
He said Vietnam is an important and attractive market for U.S. firms, expressing his hope that Vietnam will continue to facilitate the U.S.’s investment projects, contributing to expanding two-way trade, particularly by increasing imports of U.S. goods.
The two sides agreed to continue promoting technical dialogues and maintaining high-level exchanges to achieve substantive progress in their negotiations, towards establishing a stable and long-term economic and trade cooperation framework.
During his trip, Dien on May 21 had meetings with Senator Ted Cruz, Chairman of the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, and Senator Steve Daines, a member of the Senate Committees on Finance and Foreign Relations.
The minister emphasized Vietnam’s commitment to promoting bilateral economic and trade cooperation in a harmonious and sustainable manner that brings tangible benefits to people and businesses of the two nations.
He affirmed that the Southeast Asian nation always creates the best possible conditions for U.S. companies to invest and do business effectively in Vietnam, and hopes the U.S. side to consider Vietnam a priority trade partner, especially as the two countries have officially upgraded their relationship to a comprehensive strategic partnership.
Regarding the bilateral trade negotiation process, Dien stated that Vietnam is ready to closely cooperate with the U.S. towards a trade agreement based on the principles of mutual respect for sovereignty, balanced interests, and conformity with international commitments and each country’s level of development. He also called on the senators to support and help advance this process.
The U.S. senators highly evaluated the Vietnamese market’s growth potential, particularly in terms of industry, energy, high technology, and digital economy. They noted that many U.S. businesses are closely monitoring Vietnam’s policies and investment environment, and seeking ways to expand their business operations and establish long-term investments in this strategic market within the Asia-Pacific region.
The two sides hoped that the Vietnam - U.S. comprehensive cooperation will be further strengthened and further developed, especially as the global economy undergoes strong supply chain restructuring and expands into dynamic and stable markets like Vietnam.
Source: VNA