Spokeswoman of the Foreign Ministry Le Thi Thu Hang (Photo: VNA) Hanoi (VNA) - Vietnam ismaintaining dialogue and consultation with the US in a constructive spirit todeal with problems in bilateral economic and trade links in a way that issustainable and harmonises the interests of both sides, said Foreign Ministry spokeswomanLe Thi Thu Hang on December 17.
She made the comment in response tomedia questions about the US Treasury labelling Vietnam and Switzerlandcurrency manipulators.
On December 16, the US Treasury released areport on the macro-economic and foreign exchange policies of major tradingpartners of the US, with Vietnam and Switzerland listed as currencymanipulators for the first time.
The US Treasury made the determination based onthree criteria: a bilateral trade surplus with the US of at least 20 billionUSD; a material current account surplus equivalent to at least 2 percent ofGDP; and persistent and one-sided intervention in the forex market as seenthrough net purchases of foreign currency conducted in at least six out of 12months, with such net purchases totalling at least 2 percent of GDP over a12-month period.
“Over the past 25 years, especially since the comprehensivepartnership was set up, Vietnam - US relations have enjoyed strong developmentin various areas, including economy, trade, and investment,” Hang said.
She affirmed that the Vietnamese Governmentattaches special importance to economic and trade ties with the US and has beenrealising high-level commitments and trade agreements between the two countriesas well as multilateral trade commitments./.
VNA
