Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh (R) welcomes U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen

PM Chinh welcomed Secretary Janet Yellen on her official visit to Vietnam and highly appreciated the U.S.’s confirmation that the State Bank of Vietnam successfully implemented the action plan on exchange rate and information transparency, contributing to reinforcing cooperation between the two countries as well as between the State Bank of Vietnam and the U.S. Department of the Treasury.

Informing Secretary Janet Yellen of Vietnam’s foreign policy, PM Chinh said that Vietnam hopes to promote the comprehensive partnership with the U.S. and supports strengthening friendship and cooperation across spheres, with finance and banking being an important priority.

PM Chinh and Secretary Janet Yellen expressed their delight to see that after nearly 30 years of diplomatic relations and 10 years of comprehensive partnership, the bilateral relationship has developed more actively and steadily in all fields. Particularly, the economic-commercial relationship is a main pillar and a strong driving force. The two-way trade value reached more than US$123 billion in 2022, and the U.S. became the second-largest trading partner and one of the most important export markets of Vietnam. The U.S. ranked 11th out of 142 countries and territories investing in Vietnam.

The Prime Minister spoke highly of the objective and relevant assessment of the U.S. Department of the Treasury on Vietnam’s monetary policy and exchange rate management in the recent past and informed the guest of Vietnam’s socioeconomic situation and major financial and monetary policy orientations.

He also stated that after many years of war, Vietnam is a developing country whose economy is in transition. It has a modest scale, but high openness and limited resilience to external influences.

He suggested that the two sides continue to promote delegation exchanges, especially high-level delegations, and implement agreements reached by the two countries’ senior leaders. He suggested that the State Bank of Vietnam and the U.S. Department of the Treasury continue to maintain a mechanism to resolve related issues through close dialogues and exchanges on issues arising in the coming time amid global economic volatility.

PM Chinh also suggested that Vietnam and the U.S. strengthen economic and commercial cooperation, increase the resilience of supply chains, and promote U.S. businesses to expand and continue investment in Vietnam, especially in high-tech fields. This will build harmonious, sustainable, and mutually beneficial trade relations. He also emphasized that it is important to foster Vietnam – U.S. cooperation in responding to climate change, implement the Declaration of the Just Energy Transition Partnership (JETP), support Vietnam to develop its renewable energy industry, and establish a domestic carbon market connected with the international market.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen expressed her impressions of Vietnam’s development, affirming that Vietnam is an increasingly important partner of the U.S. and plays a key role in the country’s Indo-Pacific Strategy.

She said that she will discuss with U.S. authorities and report to U.S. leaders on issues that Prime Minister Chinh commented on. She affirmed that the U.S. will continue to promote cooperation with Vietnam in investment, diversification, and supply chain shifting and support Vietnam in economic development and transformation.

The U.S. Department of the Treasury advocated continuing its dialogues with the State Bank of Vietnam on monetary policy, exchange rate, and other macro issues to further strengthen their cooperation. She added that the U.S. highly values and backs Vietnam’s efforts and solutions in energy transition, the implementation of the National Power Development Plan VIII, and acceleration of the realization of the Just Energy Transition Partnership with the mobilization of international financial sources.