PM Pham Minh Chinh (R) receives the California delegation led by Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao in Hanoi on August 1. Photo: VGP

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh received a delegation of officials and businesses from the US state of California led by Mayor of Oakland city Sheng Thao in Hanoi on August 1, VOV reported.

The Government leader affirmed that Vietnam always views the US as one of the leading partners and wishes to continue promoting bilateral relations in a substantive and effective manner for the sake of the two peoples and for peace, stability, cooperation, and development in the Asia-Pacific region.

PM Chinh applauded the sound relations between Vietnam and California, including Oakland city, especially economic, trade and seaport cooperation.

California is one of the leading locality partners of Vietnam as nearly 100 businesses from the state have invested in the Southeast Asian nation, which in turn has carried out more than 70 investment projects in California, he went on.

The two sides boast huge potential for partnerships in economy, trade, investment, science - technology, energy transition, hi-tech, innovation, education, training, and startup, he noted, calling for cooperation to be maintained and fostered.

The host leader asked the Oakland Mayor and other California officials to continue helping develop relations with Vietnam, particularly in economy, trade, investment, and people-to-people exchanges, and act as a bridge linking the US and Vietnam as well as their businesses, thus contributing to the two countries’ connections.

PM Pham Minh Chinh (R) receives the California delegation led by Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao in Hanoi on August 1. Photo: VNA

He expressed his hope that Oakland will keep facilitating delegation exchanges and information sharing so as to enhance the mutual understanding between its communities and Vietnamese localities. He also called on the US city's authorities to support Vietnamese people to integrate into the local society.

At the meeting, Mayor Thao spoke highly of the recent progress in Vietnam - US relations.

She said Oakland will further step up the friendship and result-oriented cooperation with Vietnam in the fields that the city and California are strong at, especially transportation, logistics, high technology, digital economy, and innovation, thereby helping with the relations between California and Vietnam.

Since the normalisation of relations, trade turnover between the two countries has increased more than 240 folds, from half a billion USD in 1995 to more than $120 billion in 2022. In the first six months of 2023, the trade hit $51.29 billion, according to VietnamPlus.

The US has become the first export market of Vietnam to surpass the $100 billion mark, while Vietnam is now the 7th largest trading partner of the US. The US’s direct investment in Vietnam reached $11.73 billion, ranking 14th among the countries and territories investing in Vietnam.

The US remains in the top five in terms of international arrivals to Vietnam, averaging 800,000 per year before the Covid-19 pandemic. Vietnam is striving to welcome 1 million US tourists.

Cooperation between localities and people-to-people exchanges have been also strengthened, facilitating economic cooperation, and contributing to enhancing mutual understanding between the two countries. /.

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