Bright future for US - Vietnam investment cooperation

Mr. John Rockhold, Chairman of the American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham) in Vietnam, General Director of Chan May LNG Joint Stock Company.

From the perspective of foreign businesses, could you tell us what advantages and challenges Vietnam's economy has in the context of global inflationary pressure and geopolitical tensions in some parts of the world?

The global inflation situation will certainly affect the economies of countries in general and Vietnam in particular. An increase in fuel prices will lead to an increase in prices of a series of other fields, which greatly affects the logistics industry. So this puts a lot of pressure on inflation and pushes up prices of all commodities. In my opinion, fortunately, Vietnam has many natural resources such as wind, solar energy and offshore gas, and a developed agricultural sector helps ensure food security. Therefore, Vietnam has the ability to control inflation.

However, in particular, in the energy industry, Vietnam has to import liquefied natural gas (LNG), so it is necessary to develop the gas industry in particular and the domestic energy industry in general in a stable manner. Being self-sufficient in energy sources and natural materials will help Vietnam further reduce the overall inflation rate.

In addition, with trade and geopolitical tensions rising, countries need to take measures to promote trade and technology sharing. Vietnam is a developing country with high integration needs and capabilities, so solutions to strengthen trade cooperation with the whole world are also a way to reduce risks and promote economic development.

How do you comment on the trade and investment relationship between Vietnam and the United States in the past time and in the future?

Vietnam and the United States have a long history of cooperation. Both countries are expecting investments worth hundreds of billions of dollars to be made. Vietnam is an important investor in the US, the US has been investing a lot in Vietnam. I was present at Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh's recent working trip to the United States and witnessed many bilateral trade and investment agreements being signed.

Moreover, we all see, bilateral trade between the two countries has been carried out in many fields such as health, agriculture, energy, transportation and infrastructure. Therefore, the two countries both hope to achieve more good results. I believe that, in the near future, there will be more US businesses coming to Vietnam to invest and vice versa.

In your opinion, what should Vietnam do to attract high-quality investment from abroad in the near future?

The potential to attract high-tech investment into Vietnam is huge. To do that, Vietnam must stabilize its energy industry because businesses in the fields of new-generation industry, industry 4.0 always need good energy. Just a power cut or a delay in power supply for one to two hours will greatly affect the line and operation of automatic robots. If this problem can be solved, many high-tech enterprises will choose Vietnam as a destination, because Vietnam has abundant and necessary human resources for high-tech development.

Along with energy stability, foreign-invested enterprises also need green energy sources to meet the requirements of environmental standards of many countries around the world. Vietnam also has a good opportunity with wind and solar energy strategies being developed, the problem is to deploy and effectively supply this energy source to investment enterprises.