(VOVWORLD) - Representatives of 50 US defense, pharmaceutical, and technology firms are in Vietnam to discuss investment and business opportunities under the annual program of the US-ASEAN Business Council (USABC). This is the largest US trade mission ever to Vietnam and involves major corporations like Boeing, Coca-Cola, CitiBank, Meta, SpaceX, Netflix, Abbott, and AES.
 The participation of 50 firms in this trade mission to Vietnam demonstrates the shift of investment wave to Vietnam and ASEAN countries. (Photo: Vietnam Investment Review) |
USABC President and CEO Ted Osius, former US Ambassador to Vietnam, said US firms are seeing a trend of expanding production centers and global supply chains in Vietnam in semiconductors, FMCG (fast-moving consumer goods), toys, furniture, food, banking and financial services, and health care. They see a huge opportunity in the Vietnamese market.
“More than 50 US companies are here this week and two different business missions. I think that gives you a sense of the kind of confidence in Vietnam's growth, in Vietnam's potential that exists in the US business community,” Ted said.
The USABC chief attributed the increased trust to lots of changes over the past 10 years, including really phenomenal growth on the part of Vietnam.
“And I think one of the things that we're seeing is that Vietnam’s diversification policy is quite well and it's bearing fruit and diversification of supply chains even in the security realm and Vietnamese companies are investing in the United States. That's exciting. We have Vinfast just here. Other companies that are investing in United States include Sovico and An Phat,” Ted concluded.
Rafael Frankel, the Meta Group’s Director of Public Policy for South and Southeast Asia, elaborated on factors that make US firms keen to invest in Vietnam.
“The first thing we talked about is the extraordinary talent, dedication, hard work, resilience, and entrepreneurship of the Vietnamese people. Those are qualities that Vietnamese people possess, far against anyone in the world. Second is that this is a country where we believe in investment. We believe that there is an incredibly bright future and we've seen what has come of that investment over the course of more than three decades now. And then I think the third point is that the government of Vietnam, for a generation now, has pursued policies that have kept the economy open,” said Rafael.
The US businesses spoke highly of Vietnam's development in recent years and said they look forward to continuing to work with policy makers and Vietnamese businesses toward a sustainable trade growth.
According to the Foreign Investment Agency, Ministry of Planning and Investment, as of February 20, 2022, the US ranked 11th of 140 countries and territories invested in Vietnam. American investors have 1,145 projects with a total registered capital of 10.3 billion USD. Their projects are mainly in accommodation and catering services, manufacturing and processing, water supply and waste treatment, and transportation and storage.