On February 17, US President Barack Obama announced measures designed to enhance Southeast Asian economies. Corporations of Vietnam and the United States inked several deals in the presence of Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung on the sidelines of the special ASEAN-US Summit.
The new "US-ASEAN Connect" package will include technical advice on how countries like Indonesia and the Philippines can prepare to join the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement. The ASEAN groups together Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. Collectively, the ASEAN countries are the fourth-largest trading partner for the US. According to White House figures, two-way trade in goods and services has tripled since the 1990s, topping US$254 billion in 2014, supporting around half a million US jobs.
The Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam (BIDV) signed an agreement with BIDV Metlife Life Insurance Limited Liability Company, a joint venture between US-based Metlife and BIDV, on expanding life insurance business in Vietnam. Accordingly, the two sides will exchange information and experience as well as introduce opportunities in finance and life insurance to each other. Additionally, BIDV Metlife will help BIDV develop Bancassurance, an insurance product sold at banks, and several personal financial services.
Also during the signing ceremony, Vietnam’s Bien Dong Seafood, Co. Ltd and Thai Group signed cooperation deals with US’s H2Origins Seafood Inc and Hyatt Hotel Corporation.
Bien Dong Seafood and H2Origins Seafood will work together to raise seafood sales in the US market to more than US$300 million over the next three years. They also targets to boost their market share to over 40% by sharing market intelligence and developing new high-quality seafood products for the US. Meanwhile, Thai Group and Chicago-based Hyatt agreed to build a US$165-million Park Hayatt hotel in Hanoi. The 300-room hotel is expected to be operational in 2018.
Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung and the leaders of ASEAN Member States and the US have agreed that the current complex regional developments are adversely affecting each nation. The leaders concurred to forge their cooperation forward mutual recognition of the importance of pursuing policies that lead to dynamic, open, and competitive economies that foster economic growth, job creation, innovation, entrepreneurship and connectivity, and that support SMEs and narrow the development gap.
The government leader positively assessed the progress and significant results achieved in the ASEAN- US partnership over the recent past and hoped that both sides will work hand in hand to effectively implement the ASEAN-US Action Plan for the period 2016 -2020 as a contribution to propelling the ASEAN-US relations forward in the time ahead.
The same day, PM Dung and his delegation left California for Hanoi, successfully concluding their US tour for the ASEAN-US Special Summit.
Source: The Hanoitimes
Key words: Senthening, economic ties, between Vietnam and US firms
