Hanoi (VNA) – Deputy Prime Minister Trinh Dinh Dungappreciated the contributions made by Vietnamese and US businesses to theircountries’ relations over the last 25 years, while attending a business summitin Hanoi on May 10.

The Vietnam-US business summit, the third of itskind so far, attracted representatives of some 200 businesses from bothcountries, including such giants as Exxon Mobil, Amazon, Coca-Cola, Google,Facebook, Paypal, and Visa.

According to Chairwoman of the American Chamberof Commerce (AmCham) in Hanoi Natasha Ansell, US companies have investedbillions of US dollars in Vietnam, helped bring the country into global supplychains, created jobs for local people, and opened up a new market for US goodsand services.

AmCham will continue supporting the VietnameseGovernment’s efforts to develop the local private sector, she noted.

In his speech, Deputy PM Dung emphasisedVietnam’s consistent policy of considering the US a leading partner andcontinuing to promote bilateral relations, in which economic-trade-investmentpartnerships remain a driving force of their ties.

Over the past few years, the US has retained itsposition as one of Vietnam’s top trade partners. Bilateral trade increased byover 130 times from 450 million USD in 1994, when the two countries normalisedbilateral diplomatic ties, to nearly 60 billion USD in 2018. The US’ exports toVietnam have also been rising sharply, up by nearly 40 percent last year.

During his trip to Vietnam for the second summitwith the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea in February this year, USPresident Donald Trump joined Vietnamese leaders in witnessing the signing ofmany commercial contracts worth over 21 billion USD in total.

Meanwhile, the US now has 900 valid investmentprojects worth over 9 billion USD in Vietnam, he noted.

The Deputy PM said the two economies areincreasingly complementary to each other, elaborating that while Vietnam’s mainexports to the North American market include aquatic products, cashew nuts, garment-textiles,and footwear, the US supplies high-tech products to the Southeast Asian nation.

Investment and business projects of USenterprises in Vietnam have played a growing role in local development andassisted the country to join global supply chains, thereby helping to bringprosperity to Vietnamese people, he added.

The Vietnamese Government pledges optimalconditions for US firms to operate, especially in the fields matching theirstrength and Vietnam’s demand like renewable energy, infrastructuredevelopment, finance-banking, education-training, tourism, high technology, andhigh-tech agriculture, Deputy PM Dung affirmed. –VNA