Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh speaks at the conference (Photo: VNA)

Addressing the Vietnam-US trade, investment and tourism promotion conference themed "Rediscovering Vietnam" on Tuesday in San Francisco, Prime Minister Chinh said two-way trade between Vietnam and the United States grows 17-20% per year. The US is Vietnam's second largest partner, while Vietnam is the 9th largest partner of the US.

The Prime Minister said he hopes that economic cooperation between the two sides will further develop. Mentioning a number of priority areas of Vietnam such as capital market development, digital transformation, energy transformation, response to climate change, tourism, and trade, he suggested that the US partners continue to promote cooperation in these fields and support Vietnam in policy advice, capital, human resources, infrastructure, technology, and governance.

Regarding tourism, the US has been continuously put in the list of Vietnam’s biggest markets. The PM called on foreign investors, including those from the US, to continue to cooperate with Vietnam in tourism in the spirit of ‘harmonized benefits, shared risks.’

On the same day, also in San Francisco, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh received Ms. Nina Hachigian, Deputy Mayor of Los Angeles. At the meeting, the Prime Minister proposed strengthening cooperative relations between Vietnamese cities and Los Angeles, such as the very effective cooperation between San Francisco and Ho Chi Minh City, promoting cooperation in economy, culture, science and technology, digital transformation, response to climate change and other fields.

He expected to promote the export of agricultural and aquatic products to the US market, including Los Angeles city, saying Vietnamese goods can fully meet the strict standards of the US.

Ms. Hachigian said that the Mayor of Los Angeles hopes to strongly strengthen cooperation with Vietnam this year as the city looks forward to being a sister city with Hanoi and opening more direct flights to Vietnam.