US seeks increased trade, investment ties with Vietnam: Trump
US seeks increased trade, investment ties with Vietnam: Trump
The US wants to boost trade and investment ties with Vietnam, President Trump said at a meeting with PM Phuc Wednesday.
The U.S. President emphad at the meeting that he strongly supports trade between the two countries.
He said the two countries should promote existing cooperation mechanisms like the the U.S.-Vietnam Bilateral Trade Agreement and the Trade and Investment Framework Agreements (TIFA) to boost bilateral trade.
Vietnam and the U.S. should also continue to discuss the possibility of upgrading the framework of trade and investment relations, in line with development of the economic relations of the two countries, he added.
2018 was a landmark year with bilateral trade topping $60 billion. Vietnam was one of U.S.’s fastest growing export markets with export value increasing by 46 percent over 2017.
On the sidelines of the second North Korea-U.S summit in Hanoi, PM Phuc also met with representatives of some U.S. aviation and financial giants.
He told Kevin McAllister, CEO of Boeing Commercial Airplanes, that he was "very impressed" with the deal that Vietnamese carriers have signed with Boeing.
Several major aviation deals worth about $21 billion were signed Wednesday.
McAllister said that he was looking for opportunities to manufacture plane parts in Vietnam and that Boeing wanted to partner with Vietnam in maintaining and managing its airports.
Phuc said: "The possibility of partnership between the two sides is very high, not just in purchasing airplanes but also in manufacturing plane parts."
He asked Boeing to help Vietnamese carriers in maintaining airplanes and increasing aviation safety.
The U.S. was Vietnam’s largest export market last year, accounting for 19.5 percent of Vietnam’s export value, according to Vietnam Customs.
Vietnam exported $47.53 billion worth of goods to the U.S. last year, up 14.27 percent from 2017.
