Hanoi (VNA) 𒉰– US Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross had a meeting with Minister of Industry and Trade Tran Tuan Anh in Hanoi on November 8, saying his trip to Vietnam aims to further enhance economic, trade and investment ties between the two countries.

Ross said the US attaches great importance to the cooperation with Vietnam in all fields. Highlighting the enormous potential for the two countries to foster economic partnerships, especially in the spheres of energy, aviation and construction, he expressed his hope that the Vietnamese Government will continue to make it easy for US businesses to expand trade and investment cooperation with Vietnamese partners for the sake of both nations. He also thanked the Vietnamese Government for making unceasing efforts to improve the investment environment, consolidate investors’ trust, and create favourable conditions for US firms in particular and foreign businesses in general to effectively operate in the country in the long term. For his part, Minister Anh said building strategic trust is one of the most important factors to substantially promote the comprehensive partnership between Vietnam and the US for the sake of their peoples. He affirmed that the Government of Vietnam in general and the Ministry of Industry and Trade in particular wish to work closely with the US to continue developing bilateral relations in an extensive, substantive and effective manner, especially in the fields of economy, trade and investment.

꧅[Vietnam, US cooperate to strengthen infrastructure finance]

Particularly, Vietnam has continually made efforts to better the investment climate, actively deal with the US’s proposals, and create an open and transparent business environment, he said, noting it has also worked to facilitate US-invested projects in the country and help with the firms’ long-term operations and sustainable development in line with local laws. With regard to the cooperation in fighting goods origin frauds and illegal transshipment, Anh suggested that the two ministries should further strengthen coordination, especially after the Customs Mutual Assistance Agreement (CMAA) is signed in the time to come. He also took the occasion to thank the US side for its recent decision to recognise that Vietnam’s Siluriformes fish inspection system is equivalent to the system that the US has established under the Federal Meat Inspection Act and its implementing regulations. The official appreciated the US continuing to consider Vietnam as a focus of its Tradewinds trade promotion programme in 2020, noting that Vietnam will work closely with the US to ensure the success of this programme. At the meeting, Anh also spoke highly of Ross’s speech at the Indo Pacific Business Forum on the sidelines of the 35th ASEAN Summit in Thailand on November 4, which spotlighted the Blue Dot Network initiative of the US to promote sustainable infrastructure development with high-quality and reliable standards. The Ministry of Industry and Trade is interested in promoting this relationship with the goal of building Vietnam into a reliable partner of the US, he stressed./.