An overview of the conference. Photos: Vietnam Airlines

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh gave the remarks at a trade-investment-tourism promotion conference with the theme “Rediscovering Vietnam” on May 17 in San Francisco, the US.

The event took place within the framework of the Prime Minister’s official visit to the US.

At the event, the Vietnamese Prime Minister wished the US partners to support Vietnam in policy consultation, capital sources, the development of human resources and infrastructure systems, technology, and governance. 

With the topic “Rediscovering Vietnam”, the conference conveyed the message of Vietnam's recovery, opening, and strong development after two years of the pandemic, as well as the prospect of good relations between Vietnam and the US in the future. 

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, US Ambassador to Vietnam Marc E. Knapper, and the leaders of San Francisco City attended the event and witnessed the signings of Memorandums of Understanding by the organizations and enterprises of the two countries. 

The Prime Minister called on US investors to continue cooperating with the Vietnamese partners to promote joint activities, including those in the tourism sector in the spirit of harmonious benefits, shared risks, "sincerity, trust, and responsibility" to each other.

US Ambassador to Vietnam Marc E. Knapper emphasized that aviation, tourism, education, and people-to-people exchanges play very important roles in the two countries' relations.

Before the pandemic, there were 30,000 Vietnamese students in the US and he pledged to deploy solutions to double this number in the future, as well as bring more American students to study in Vietnam.

Over the years, the trade ties between Vietnam and the US have grown ever stronger. Since the normalization of relations in 1995, the bilateral trade turnover in 2021 reached more than US$111 billion, an increase of about 250 times, despite the complicated developments of the Covid-19 pandemic. 

The US is an important export market for many key Vietnamese products, such as those in the sectors of agriculture, forestry, fishery, textiles, and footwear. Vietnam also imports billions of dollars of goods and services each year from the US, typically machinery, electronic equipment, agricultural products, and transportation, tourism, and technology services. 

Investment between the two countries has made great gains with large projects already being implemented in the fields of energy, technology, manufacturing, healthcare, and education.

In addition to promoting trade, investment, and tourism, the conference also marked the 20th anniversary of the establishment of a representative office of the Vietnamese flag carrier - Vietnam Airlines in San Francisco City. This is an important milestone in the continuous development and growth of Vietnam Airlines in particular and Vietnamese aviation in general.

With the promotion efforts from both countries for decades, the number of passengers from the United States to Vietnam and vice versa is growing strongly. In 2019, the number of passengers from the US to Vietnam reached more than 746,000, and the average growth rate in the period 2014 - 2019 was 11%. 

Vietnamese delegates attend the event.

Dang Ngoc Hoa, Chairman of Vietnam Airlines said the conference is an opportunity for US partners to learn about Vietnam's investment opportunities, strong products, and typical aviation and tourism services.

“This is also an opportunity for Vietnamese enterprises to directly meet and exchange on trade and tourism opportunities with US partners,” he added.

At the event, Saigontourist Group pledged to continue investing in and improving tourism products and services, especially those that are popular with US visitors, such as premium travel, beach, and wellness tourism. 

“Saigontourist Group will take full advantage of the strength of its partner network in the United States and North America, contribute to promoting tourism in Vietnam and Ho Chi Minh City, accelerate recovery and draw more tourists from these markets to Vietnam,” stated Pham Huy Binh, Chairman of Saigontourist Group.

“Rediscovering Vietnam” was an opportunity for Vietnamese enterprises to discuss with US partners potential goods and services that can be imported to Vietnam, and business investment opportunities in the US. Saigontourist Group, Thien Minh Group and Vietnam Airlines took this chance to sign Memorandums of Understanding with some US travel partners.