The Vietnamese Embassy in the US on February 11 held a meeting to mark the 20th anniversary of trade normalization between Viet Nam and the US (February 3, 1994 – February 3, 2014).
The event drew the participation of US Secretary ofState John Kerry and Senator John McCain, around 300 delegates including congresspersons, officials, diplomats, business leaders, non-governmental organization representatives, and US negotiators for the Trans-Pacific Strategic Partnership Agreement (TPP).
US Former President Bill Clinton who decided to lift the trade embargo against Viet Nam and US Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton also sent a greetings letter and video clip. They expressed hope that the US-Vietnam relationship would continue to develop for the benefit and prosperity of both nations.
Addressing the event, Vietnamese Ambassador to the US Nguyen Quoc Cuong hailed the formulation of the comprehensive partnership between the two sides in July, 2013.
So far, Viet Nam is the 29th largest trade partner of the US. The trade ties picked up around 20% yearly.
US exporters ship approximately 1,800 containers of products to Viet Nam every year.
In 2013, a group of Vietnamese companies signed contracts to purchase US wind turbines worth US $2.6 billion, creating tens of thousands of jobs for the US manufacturing.
US investment in Viet Nam reached US$11 billion last year, placing the country the seventh on the list of the Southeast Asian nation’s foreign investors.
Representatives from General Electric (GE) Group and the US Chamber of Commerce described lifting the trade embargo as the essential initial step that paved the way for the two countries to foster deep, broad relationship today.
