On May 11, 2022, Governor Nguyen Thi Hong of the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) attended the meetings between Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh with Ms. Janet Yellen, U.S. Secretary of the Treasury, and with Ms. Gina Raimondo, U.S. Secretary of Commerce. The meetings took place on the occasion of the ASEAN-U.S. Special Summit (May 12-13, 2022) in Washington, D.C.
Ms. Janet Yellen, U.S. Secretary of the Treasury, welcomed the Prime Minister and Vietnamese Delegation to the US for the ASEAN-U.S. Special Summit, and for an official visit. The two sides both expressed their pleasure and recognition of the prospering Vietnam-US relations, especially in the areas of bilateral trade and investment. The Prime Minister expressed his sincere thanks for Secretary Yellen’s contributions to promoting the bilateral cooperation in the areas of finance, monetary, economy and trade over the last year. The robust engagement activities between the two sides have contributed to deepening the Comprehensive Partnership between the two countries.
At the meeting, the Prime Minister also shared with the US Secretary of the Treasury about the recent developments and the complicated impacts of the global and regional issues on Vietnam’s economy, such as the COVID pandemic, climate change, the armed conflicts, the natural resource depletion, the non-traditional security (NTS) issues, including human resource security, water security, energy security, food security and cyber security. The Prime Minister emphasized that the current global issues require a global approach and global solutions. In the process of addressing and mitigating those challenges, it is necessary to have an internationalist perspective, and a balanced and multilateral approach.
The Prime Minister affirmed that Vietnam wishes to build an independent, self-reliant and sustainable economy, identifying that the macro-economic stability plays a crucial role. Regarding the banking sector, the Prime Minister highly recognized a Joint Statement between the SBV and the US Department of the Treasury in July 2021. In addition, he also reaffirmed that the SBV has been managing the exchange rate policy - within the framework of the common monetary policy - with a permanent and consistent goals of controlling the inflation and maintaining the macro-economic stability, and not to create any unfair comparative advantages in international trade, neither intend to cause any damage to Vietnam’s trade partners in general and to the US in particular.
Secretary Yellen made high evaluation for the SBV's policy of managing the exchange rates in a flexible manner, which gives priority to controlling the inflation and maintaining the macro-economic stability.
Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and Secretary Janet Yellen of the US Department of the Treasury
The Prime Minister expressed his wishes to maintain a regular dialogue channel with the US Department of the Treasury to exchange about the economic development and the responses to global challenges, especially in the areas of green transformation, digitization, climate change adaptation and mitigation, and the implementation of the net zero commitments made at COP26, as well as the cooperation to stabilize the supply chains. The Prime Minister hoped the US would share its experience in developing the financial markets, especially the stock market and real estate market in a healthy, safe and transparent manner, contributing to maintaining the macro-economic stability.
SBV Governor Nguyen Thi Hong presents a souvenir to Ms. Janet Yellen, Secretary of the US Department of the Treasury.
At the meeting between Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh with Ms. Gina Raimondo, the US Secretary of Commerce spoke highly of the vision and the economic development plan of the Government of Vietnam, especially the transformation to a digital economy, a green economy, and the diversification of the supply chains. In addition, the Secretary also affirmed that the US wishes to enhance the cooperation with Vietnam, especially in the implementation of Vietnam’s net zero commitment made at COP26.
For his part, the Prime Minister acknowledged that the US has become one of Vietnam's most important trade and investment partners. He also highly recognized the two sides' efforts through the regularly exchanges to promote the cooperative relations towards a harmonious and sustainable trade balance between Vietnam and the US.
Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh’s meeting with Ms. Gina Raimondo, US Secretary of Commerce.
The US Secretary of Commerce congratulated Vietnam on its successes in responding to the COVID-19 pandemic, and affirmed that the US would continue to support Vietnam's recovery in the post-pandemic period. She further expressed her pleasure with the increasing number of Vietnamese businesses investing and showing interest in investing in the US. The Secretary agreed that those are signs showing that US-Vietnam economic and trade relations would continue to prosper strongly in the coming time.
The Prime Minister affirmed that Vietnam is committed to continuing to create a fair and transparent business environment based on the market principles, and the US businesses and investors can be confident to expand their business operations in Vietnam.
Toward the end of the meeting, the Prime Minister and the US Secretary of Commerce, together with members of the two Delegations witnessed a ceremony of exchanging important cooperation agreements between several Vietnamese and US companies.
Le Hang