With many benefits for the business communities in both countries, the setting up of the Vietnam-US Business Forum was an important milestone in trade relations between Vietnam and the US after they signed the Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA) in 2001.

The US Ambassador to Vietnam Michael W. Michalak made the statement at a ceremony to make the debut of the Vietnam-US Business Forum in Hanoi on April 8.

The forum was set up by the Vietnamese Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) under the guidelines of the Vietnamese Government with the aim of promoting economic and trade cooperation between Vietnam and the US . It is also considered as a bilateral close coordination mechanism to strengthen the strategic trading partnership between the two countries.

The forum will be co-chaired by Vietnam, the US Chamber of Commerce, the American Chamber of Commerce in Hanoi and the American Chamber of Commerce in Ho Chi Minh City.

According to VCCI President Vu Tien Loc, the forum will act as a public-private dialogue channel, collecting opinions to submit to the relevant agencies from both countries. It will also be a bridge for businesses from both countries to meet, exchange their experiences and find partners for economic cooperation and investment while providing assistance, consultancies, economic and legal information.

Additionally, the forum will boost links with US business associations in Vietnam, the US-Vietnam Trade Council and the US-ASEAN Business Council.

The VCCI President added that events to promote investment like holding training courses, seminars and market surveys will be focused on to help Vietnamese enterprises get updated with information on the markets and improve their business management capacity up to US standards.

Before the official launch, in 2009, the forum created the Vietnam-US trade portal, issued bulletins, held meetings for enterprises from both countries as well as seminars and training courses on business management.

In 2009, with 495 investment projects valued at 14.5 billion USD, the US was Vietnam ’s 6 th largest foreign investor, followed by Taiwan , the Republic of Korea , Malaysia , Japan and Singapore./.