US Independence Day marked in Ho Chi Minh City

Photo: VGP/Thanh Thuy

Speaking at the event, US Ambassador David Shear said he is optimistic about prospects of the two countries’ relations, adding that bilateral cooperation in trade, investment, science and environment has been developed constantly over the past times.

The number of 400,000 US visitors to Viet Nam last year and the arrival of more US enterprises in Ho Chi Minh City from the beginning of this year showed that Viet Nam has become an increasingly attractive tourism and investment destination to US people, he stated.

Vice Chairman of the municipal People’s Committee Le Manh Ha hailed the big strides in bilateral relations, including the establishment of a comprehensive partnership and the dynamic ties in different fields from politics, diplomacy to trade, investment and education and health care. He noted that the completion of negotiations on a Trans-Pacific Partnership will create favorable conditions to speed up economic ties between the two countries.

Last year, the US was the second largest trade partner of Viet Nam with two-way trade hitting nearly US$30 billion. It now ranks seventh among the nations and territories investing in Viet Nam.

As of May, US investors ran 285 projects in HCM City with a total investment of over US$524 million.

On the day, the US Ambassador paid a farewell visit to Secretary of the municipal Party Committee Le Thanh Hai, who highly valued the diplomat’s contributions to consolidating the relations between the two countries in general and between their localities in particular.-VNA