Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh is encouraging American enterprises to boost their investment in Vietnam in the spirit of sharing both the benefits and risks, while stressing the success of foreign investors is the success of the host country.

PM Chinh was speaking at the Vietnam - U.S. Business Forum on technology and innovation cooperation on Monday morning (local time) in San Francisco, California, where he arrived on Sunday for a week-long trip to attend the high-level General Debate of the 78th United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) session.

Before a very large audience, Chinh touched on the fruitful development of the Vietnam - U.S. relations over the past years with a lot of milestones, including the upgrade of the bilateral ties to a comprehensive strategic partnership, which took place a week ago during the visit to Vietnam by U.S. President Joe Biden.

The enhancement of ties resulted from a great effort of the two countries and people, including Vietnamese and American businesses, the PM told the forum.

With the view that 'resources come from thinking and awareness, motivation takes shape from innovation, and strength originates from people and businesses,' PM Chinh expressed his hope that American businesses will promote their investment in Vietnam in the spirit of 'harmonious benefits and shared risks' to be successful in the win-win cooperation with their Vietnamese partners.

“Vietnam sees foreign investors’ success as its own,” the Vietnamese leader affirmed.

Reiterating the U.S. commitment to supporting a ‘strong, independent, self-reliant, and prosperous’ Vietnam, PM Chinh suggested U.S. investors focus their investment in the Southeast Asian nation on trade, services, science and technology, innovation, digital transformation, energy conversion, the circular economy, and the sharing economy.

After nearly four decades of innovation, opening up, and integration of the national economy, Vietnam has obtained many remarkable achievements, the PM told the forum.

The scale of the economy has reached US$409 billion, making Vietnam one of the world’s top 20 biggest international trade economies and one of the world’s 40 largest economies, while average income per capita has increased from $160 to over $4,100, Thanh Nien (Young People) newspaper cited Chinh as saying.

Last year, Vietnam registered a GDP growth rate of 8.02 percent, the highest in the past 10 years, and earned an import-export turnover of over $732 billion, an increase of 9.5 percent, with a trade surplus of more than $11 billion.

The nation also saw realized FDI capital reaching about $22.4 billion in 2022, the highest in the past five years.

The Vietnamese leader stressed that Vietnam and the U.S. have long determined to 'put aside the past, look toward the future, and heal the wounds of war,' but some people still do not fully understand Vietnam and are therefore afraid and worried.

“That’s why I would like to take this opportunity to ask U.S. authorities at all levels as well as the U.S.-ASEAN Business Council to explain to them that the Vietnamese government is ready to open the door for all companies to invest and do business legally, stably, and effectively,” the PM stated.

He called on those who are hesitant about Vietnam to come to Vietnam to witness its development with their own eyes and then invest in the country for mutual interests.

“A picture is worth a thousand words,” Chinh cited an adage.

Earlier on the same morning, Chinh met and had breakfast with representatives of typical Vietnamese businesses in San Francisco, during which he highly valued the contributions by overseas Vietnamese business communities, including those in the U.S., to Vietnam’s economic development.

These business leaders expressed their pleasure at the increasingly improved investment and business environment in Vietnam, and at the vigorous progress in Vietnam - U.S. relations, which they said will open up many new opportunities for trade and investment cooperation.

Affirming that the Vietnamese community here is very dynamic and always looks back to their homeland, the business leaders expressed their desire to contribute more to the country’s development as well as promote the relations between the two countries.

They also briefed Chinh on some plans for cooperation between them and their Vietnamese partners in the coming time.

As the main part of his trip, the PM is to deliver a speech at the General Debate of the 78th UNGA session at the General Assembly Hall of the UN Headquarters in New York City on Tuesday.  

The event will take place under the theme, 'Rebuilding Trust and Reigniting Global Solidarity: Accelerating Action on the 2030 Agenda and its Sustainable Development Goals toward Peace, Prosperity, Progress, and the Sustainability for All.'

Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!