Vietnam, US to expand cooperation in supply chains

US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said the United States will continue bolstering cooperation with Vietnam in the supply chain to extend its backing for the country’s evolution.

US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and Vietnam’s Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh in Hanoi on July 20. Photos: VGP

Yellen made the statement at the meeting with Vietnam’s Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh in Hanoi during her visit to the Southeast Asian country starting on July 19.

The US's support would create diverse, resilient, and sustainable supply chains in key industries, which will be stimulated by growing investments to expand business in Vietnam, Yellen said on July 20.

Prime Minister Chinh accentuated the importance of the supply chain and admired the partnership in this field. He appreciated the US efforts in recognizing the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV)'s action plan and transparency on forex.

He welcomed the collaboration between Vietnam's Ministry of Finance and the US Treasury, and the SBV and the US Treasury in the finance and banking sector.

At the meeting, PM Chinh enclosed other vital partnership sectors, namely energy transition, and encouraged the investment of US investors.

Yellen affirmed that Vietnam is a close economic partner, with the two-way trade reaching a record high last year and the US serving as Vietnam's largest export market.

According to US Ambassador to Vietnam Marc Knapper, the two-way trade hit US$139 billion in 2022, marking more than 300 times higher than in 1995. 

Yellen said the US considers Vietnam a key partner in advancing a free and open Indo-Pacific. Over the 28 years of normalization, the bilateral relationship has grown deeper and broader.

"We are supportive of Vietnam's growth and economic transformation, which are good for both the Vietnamese and the American people," Yellen said.

On this occasion, she focused on the importance of both countries working together to advance the global clean energy transition.

She argued that climate change poses an existential threat to humanity, and countries are increasingly seeing its impact across the globe. But combatting it is also a key economic opportunity and one of the primary ways they can build greater resilience into their economies against shocks that can cause tremendous disruption.

The US is now taking action in countries to partner with and support clean energy transitions in other nations, including Vietnam. And the US welcomes Vietnam’s leadership on the clean energy transition.

“America is proud to support the Just Energy Transition Partnership launched last year for Vietnam,” Yellen said.

"Along with the International Partners Group colleagues, the UK, and the EU, the Just Energy Transition Partnership (JETP) announced in December 2022 is expected to mobilize over $15 billion toward your energy efforts."

Regarding investment, the Treasury Secretary expressed her delight at the growing investments companies are making in Vietnam, from those in the semiconductor ecosystem to the clean energy supply chain, creating new opportunities for Vietnamese workers and businesses.

During the visit to Vietnam, Yellen also held a bilateral meeting today with State Bank of Vietnam Governor Nguyen Thi Hong, made remarks at lunch with Women Economists and Entrepreneurs in Hanoi, visited Selex Motors in Hanoi – a Vietnamese startup launching an electric motorbike delivery system, the first in Southeast Asia.

Another meeting of Yellen included that with the Head of the Party Central Committee’s Economic Commission, Tran Tuan Anh.

Among economic issues, Yellen stressed the importance of people-to-people ties, addressing the legacies of the war, the role of over two million Americans of Vietnamese descent, and education. More than 30,000 Vietnamese students are currently studying in the US, the fifth-largest group of foreign students in the United States.

“It is a priority for our Administration to deepen our economic and security ties with Vietnam in the months and years to come," she said.

Overview of the meeting.

Two-way trade growth

The US-Vietnam trade maintains strong growth momentum after the US Trade Representative ended Section 301 Investigations on Vietnam’s import and use of illegal timber and the US Treasury removed Vietnam from the list of countries for currency manipulation, according to Do Ngoc Hung, Vietnam’s Trade Counselor in the US.

In 2022, the two-way trade hit US$139 billion, marking more than 300 times greater than it was in 1995. The results were thanks to Vietnam’s righteous leadership and effective cooperation between Vietnamese and US agencies.

The Vietnam News Agency quoted the counselor as saying that the two-way trade in the second half is forecast to be better than the first six months with the strong recovery of the US economy and consumption demand.

For Vietnam, businesses and associations have reported strong economic indicators at trade conferences presided over by the prime minister and the minister of industry and trade.

The US market is huge with 330 million people, including more than 2.1 million Vietnamese Americans who want to use products from their country of origin. This is where Vietnam's enormous export potential lies.

In the first five months of this year, the trade values between Vietnam and the US reached $46.5 billion, statistics by the US Trade Representative showed. The US maintained Vietnam’s biggest export market while Vietnam is the American country’s 7th largest trade partner. Vietnam’s exports to the US accounted for 35% of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN).