Socialist Republic of Vietnam

(VNA) The US will become Vietnam ’s “number one” investor in the next two years, said the President of the US-ASEAN Business Council Matthew P. Daley.
Speaking at a press conference in Hanoi on May 13, Daley, who leads a top-level US business delegation during their three-day visit to Vietnam to seek out cooperation opportunities, said that although the global economy is facing many enormous challenges, US companies are still interested in cooperation and investment opportunities in Vietnam.
This interest was proven by the presence of more than 30 senior officials from 16 large groups such as Abbott Laboratories, AES, AIG, Caterpillar, Chevron, Citi, ConocoPhillips, ExxonMobil, Ford, General Electric, Guargian Industries, JhPIEGO, Monsanto, Pratt & Whitney, Time Warner and UPS.
Daley said that during their stay in Vietnam from May 13-15, the delegation will meet with Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung and other Vietnamese leaders to discuss investment and business opportunities in areas such as agriculture, infrastructure, energy, transport, financial and banking services, aviation, human resources development, construction materials, mining and telecommunications.
“We want to continue exchanges with Vietnam to increase the country’s long-term competitiveness and build up an attractive investment environment,” he said.
Sharing his views with Daley, the President of General Electric (GE) Southeast Asia, Stuart Dean, said that US investors are interested in Vietnam because of the country’s potential for development, friendly investment environment and preferential policies.
Besides its projects already operating in Vietnam, GE plans further investment in the Southeast Asian country, especially in infrastructure, said Dean, who confirmed that Vietnam continues to be the group’s key business market.
Also at the press conference, representatives of several US companies highly praised the recent developments in Vietnam ’s economy and revealed that they have long-term investment plans in this market.
A representative of Chevron, a group that has been present in Vietnam for ten years, said company had invested 300 million USD in an offshore gas exploitation project to help with electricity production in the Mekong Delta provinces.
Chevron is waiting for the Vietnamese government’s approval for an additional 4 billion USD investment for the above mentioned project, of which 2.5 billion USD will come from the group itself, he said.
If the plan is approved, Chevron will become the largest US investor in Vietnam , he added.
In recent years, the US has become one of Vietnam ’s ten largest investors. In the first four months of this year, the US led other foreign investors in Vietnam with a combined capital of more than 3.8 billion USD, accounting for over 50 percent of the country’s total registered FDI./.