US holds potential to become top 10 investor in Vietnam: Deputy PM

Vietnam and the U.S. should collaborate to make the global superpower one of the top 10 foreign investors in the Southeast Asian nation, Deputy Prime Minister Tran Luu Quang said at the U.S.-Vietnam Business Summit 2023 on Tuesday.

The goal was one of four recommendations made by the deputy prime minister at the event in Hanoi. To reach the target, American businesses should aid Vietnam with resources and investments, clean energy transition, and deployment of mega projects, Quang noted.

The Vietnamese government is commited to providing the best facilitation for American businesses to implement projects in Vietnam, he stressed.

Other targets are to allocate resources to implement the commitments made for the upgrade of the bilateral relationship to a comprehensive strategic level, and enhance trade and economic cooperation to help Vietnam integrate deeper in the global supply chain.

Deputy PM Quang also emphasized that American businesses should push for the recognition of Vietnam as a market economy. This would play a key role in fair, sustainable, and efficient economic-trade cooperation between the two countries, he said.

The two countries upgraded their bilateral ties to a comprehensive strategic level during U.S. President Biden’s recent visit to Hanoi, so there is now a true sense of momentum in their bilateral economic relationship.

“It is incumbent upon the business communities of both countries to capitalize on this momentum to unlock higher levels of two-way trade and investment, while working with both governments to break down the challenges and obstacles standing in the way,” said U.S. Chamber of Commerce (AmCham) executive director for Southeast Asia John Goyer.

"We have unprecedented opportunities to build on our deep trade and investment ties," U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo said at the event.

“With the recent relationship upgrade, this is a critical time and wonderful opportunity to work on how to also upgrade the policy framework and economic environment to attract new players and help current investors and businesses grow,” said AmCham Hanoi chairman John Rockhold.

Making an online appearance, U.S. Ambassador to Vietnam Marc Knapper said: "While the opportunities are promising, we do acknowledge that doing business here in Vietnam remains challenging. We are concerned about the across the board bureaucratic delays as well as the lack of progress in accelerating the clean energy transition and the threat in the years ahead that this could pose to Vietnam security, sustainability, affordability and ability to attract foreign direct investment."

"The next high-level touchpoint is in San Francisco at the 2023 APEC Economic Leaders Week," the diplomat said, anticipating robust participation of American and Vietnamese businesses at the CEO Summit. On the sidelines of the activities, "we also intend to wrap up negotiations with our IPEF partner countries including Vietnam on Pillar 3 and 4 as well as several chapters of Pillar 1 while signing into effect supply chain agreement that came out of Pillar 2 negotiations. And we will continue to work with Vietnam on implementation of the initiatives," the diplomat noted.

Joseph Uddo, president of AES Vietnam, said AES, as the largest U.S. direct investor in Vietnam, would focus on LNG-to-power in the southern part of the country. "We've been pleased to have a long track record of safety and achievement helping Vietnam achieve its energy goals and to move forward towards its energy future," the executive added.

The U.S.-Vietnam business summit focused on Vietnam’s priorties of removing bottlenecks in resource mobilization, production, and business; addressing energy development needs and accelerating the transition to clean and renewable energy; ensuring access, affordability, and innovation in the health industry; unlocking the full potential of the digital economy; upgrading the stock market from frontier to emerging market status; and promoting sustainable investment and supply chain integration such as preparing for the semiconductor sector.