Chairwoman of the HCM City People’s Council Nguyen Thi Le welcomes Melissa Brown, Deputy Assistant Secretary for the Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs at the US Department of State, on March 8, 2023. (Photo: VNA)

Highlighting the strong progress in Vietnam - US ties, Chairwoman Le said relations between HCM City and the US have also been flourishing, especially in economy and trade.

The US is currently the 10th biggest foreign investor in the southern largest economic hub with over 500 direct investment projects worth almost 1.3 billion USD in total. It is also a leading trading partner of the city with about 9.3 billion USD in bilateral trade in 2022, up 3.8% year on year.

HCM City is an economic, cultural, educational, scientific and technological hub, a gateway to the world of Vietnam, and an attractive destination for US investors, the Chairwoman said, expressing her hope that the US Department of State will suggest US enterprises come to explore investment opportunities in areas matching HCM City’s priority and their potential such as smart city building, digital transformation, innovation, and environmental issues.

The city’s cooperation with US partners and localities in education, people-to-people exchanges, and cultural cooperation has also been growing well, helping enhance mutual understanding and trust between the two countries' people, she added.

For her part, Deputy Assistant Secretary Brown expressed her delight at the development of the Vietnam - US relations at not only the governmental level but also in such a big and dynamic city as HCM City, noting that her visit aims to step up the US’s cooperation and investment activities here more strongly.

She said the bilateral relations have reaped great achievements in multiple spheres, and that she hoped the two countries’ partnership will develop in an effective and practical manner.

The US is proud of the achievements in the bilateral ties and wishes to elevate its partnership with Vietnam in 2023 as the two nations are celebrating the 10th anniversary of their comprehensive partnership, the official went on.

Highly evaluating HCM City’s cooperation with US localities such as San Francisco and Los Angeles, she stressed the importance of people-to-people diplomacy and locality-to-locality cooperation to the two countries’ relations.

The US Department of State supports the continuation of mutual visits and people-to-people exchanges to help promote the bilateral relationship, Deputy Assistant Secretary Brown added.