President Nguyễn Minh Triết starts US tour

The trip is made when the Vietnam-US relationship was fully normalized and many positive progresses have been made, meeting the two peoples' interests and desire.

The Vietnam-US Bilateral Trade Agreement was signed in July 2000 and came into effect in December 2001. This is a good foundation to promote economic, trade and investment ties between the two countries. The two-way trade turnover increased from US$ 1.5 billion in 2001 to US$ 8.7 billion in 2005 and nearly US$ 10 billion in 2006. The US is now Vietnam's biggest export market, especially for such primary products as garments, wood furniture, and fine art products. 

A Vietnam-US Framework Trade and Investment Agreement will be signed during the trip, opening new opportunities for trade and investment development between the two countries in the coming time. At present, more than 1,000 US conglomerates and companies are operating in Vietnam, including the giants like Boeing, Microsoft, IBM, Intel, Ford, Citigroup. According to the Vietnam Ministry of Planning and Investment, the US ranked the eighth investors in Vietnam, with a total capital of over US$ 2.3 billion by April 2007.

Assessing the significance of this trip, Vietnam's Ambassador to the US Nguyễn Tâm Chiến emphasized that the first official visit ever made by a Vietnamese State President to the US will make 2007 an important landmark in the Vietnam-US relationship. He expressed his confidence that the visit's outcomes will complete the full normalization of relations between Vietnam and the US and usher in a new stage of cooperation between the two countries, where joint efforts will be made to set up long term cooperative ties.

Apart from leaders and representatives from various ministries, sectors and local authorities, an ever biggest delegation of over 200 Vietnamese businesses will accompany the State President in his US trip.

By Nguyên Hồ