Growing US-Vietnam Economic Relationship Is Highest Priority

Mr David Bruce Shear arrived in Hanoi in August, 2011, beginning his term as the US Ambassador to Vietnam. Vietnam Business Forum had an interview with Ambassador David Shear on the occasion of the New Year 2012. Dang Yen reports.

 

It is an honor to be serving as the US Ambassador to Vietnam. Bilateral relations in the past 16 years have widened and deepened dramatically – nowhere more so than on the economic front. We recently marked the ten-year anniversary of the Bilateral Trade Agreement between the US and Vietnam. In that time, two-way trade jumped over 1,200 percent, from US$1.5 billion to over US$20 billion. In addition to the trade and investment benefits, the BTA served as a “stepping stone” for Vietnam’s accession to the World Trade Organization in 2007 and broader integration into the global economy. Vietnam has made truly historic progress in the fight to eliminate poverty and improve the livelihoods of its people. I am pleased to note that over the past decade real income in Vietnam has grown an average of 7.2 percent per year, and GDP per capita has risen from US$413 in 2001 to US$1,300 in 2011. Meanwhile Vietnam’s poverty rate has fallen from 58 percent in 1993 to 10.6 percent in 2010. This is remarkable progress and I hope to see further gains as Vietnam transitions to a knowledge-based, market economy.

 

The highest priority of the US Embassy will continue to be growing the US-Vietnam economic relationship. The US, Vietnam and seven other countries are now negotiating the Trans Pacific Partnership, a cutting-edge free trade agreement that will create jobs and improve livelihoods on both sides of the Pacific Ocean. We will continue to promote conditions in Vietnam that open opportunities for US investment, and promote Vietnam as a market for US products, and vice versa. I expect that during my term as Ambassador we will continue to see overall two-way trade increase, and hope to see US exports to Vietnam rise. I also hope that through continued dialogue we can resolve some of the differences we have on issues like price controls and import restrictions: doing so will improve Vietnam’s investment climate and allow Vietnamese consumers better access to American goods.

 

Well, depending on where you are in the United States you may go to Times Square in New York City to watch the famous ball drop, or to the beach in Waikiki, Hawaii, to see the fireworks over the ocean, or maybe ring in the new year at home with friends or family. This may be generalizing, but we Americans are also partial to paper hats and party poppers.

 

It is truly an honor to be serving as the US Ambassador to Vietnam, and this is my first time in Vietnam during Tet. On behalf of the people of the United States, my wife and I would like to wish each and every person in Vietnam a safe and happy Tet holiday. Chuc mung nam moi!