Washington DC (VNA) – Minister-Chairman of theGovernment Office Mai Tien Dung appreciated the US Agency for InternationalDevelopment (USAID) increasing its support for Vietnam over the past yearsduring a working session with the agency’s leaders in Washington DC, the US, onApril 10.

Talking to USAID Administrator Mark Green,Minister Dung highlighted the nearly-two-decade cooperation between theVietnamese Government Office and USAID and thanked the agency for implementinga number of programmes and projects funded through non-refundable officialdevelopment assistance in Vietnam, including the environmental remediation ofdioxin contamination at Da Nang and Bien Hoa airports and the ProvincialCompetitiveness Index assessment.

He spoke highly of USAID’s increase of itsbudget for supporting Vietnam by 40 percent over the last three years.

The official called on USAID to continueassisting the Vietnamese Government in institutional reforms and stategovernance, including building an e-government.

Dung expressed his belief that bilateralcooperation will continue developing through the Country DevelopmentCooperation Strategy in Vietnam for 2020-2024, which is being built by USAID. Healso asked it to keep conferring with the Vietnamese side during the strategymaking process so that this strategy can have the best assistance orientation.

For his part, USAID Administrator Green saidthere are many cooperation projects between Vietnam and his agency, includingthose on addressing war consequences.

The best way to enhance the two sides’ cooperationis to work more on concrete projects so as to attain better results in thefuture, which will help further promote Vietnam-US relations, according to him.

Green said the two sides can further discusscooperation fields for the next five years, adding that there are many thingsinterested by both Vietnam and USAID.

Also on April 10, Minister Dung attended aroundtable meeting on investment policy with the Asia Group, its members andpartners, and some other companies.

Chairman and CEO of the Asia Group Kurt Campbellsaid the companies want to learn about the investment climate and investmentchances in Vietnam.

Representatives of such firms as Google, AIG,Asia Pacific and VISA presented their investment in the country and expressedtheir delight at its reforms. They said the investment environment in Vietnamis increasingly attractive, which is a condition for them to increaseinvestment.

Dung noted Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen XuanPhuc has created many optimal conditions for US businesses operating in thecountry.

To continue improving the investment andbusiness climate, the Vietnamese Government is working hard to improve institutionalquality, state governance capacity, stabilise macro-economy towards sustainablegrowth, and ensure social security. It is also focusing on tax reforms so as tomeet international standards in this field, he said.-VNA