Vietnam, West Virginia bolster bilateral cooperation

The MoU was signed online on February 25 (Photo: VNA)

Hanoi (VNA) - Representatives from the Vietnamese Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT) and the US state of West Virginia signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on February 25 to accelerate cooperation in economy, trade, and energy.

The two sides aim to form a comprehensive cooperation framework to facilitate bilateral trade and investment ties in industry and energy, while increasing the exchange of information on business opportunities and supporting cooperation projects and the operations of businesses of both sides.

Addressing the signing ceremony, Minister of Industry and Trade Tran Tuan Anh highlighted the special Vietnam-US partnership while lauding the role and effort of Congresswoman Carol Miller and Governor Jim Justice of West Virginia in promoting the US’s economic and trade ties with Vietnam in the US Congress and Government.

This is a suitable time for the two sides to boost the partnership intensively, to speed up economic recovery and cope with the COVID-19 pandemic, Anh said, stressing that the US is an important and long-term partner of Vietnam in the field of energy. He described it as an important foundation for the strengthening of cooperation in specific areas in the long term.

An overview of the ceremony (Photo: VNA)

According to Vietnamese Ambassador to the US Ha Kim Ngoc, Vietnam-US relations have seen strong progress in all fields since the comprehensive partnership was set up in 2013.

For her part, Miller expressed her hope of further boosting bilateral cooperation in industry and trade, especially energy.

Vietnam and the US have seen continuous growth in bilateral trade and investment relations over the years. Two-way trade exceeded 90 billion USD for the first time last year and the figure is expected to reach 100 billion USD this year.

The two nations have designed an action plan featuring a range of specific solutions, towards a harmonious and sustainable trade relationship./.