VNA reported that the third round of negotiations on the Bilateral Agreement on Commerce Trade between Vietnam and the US was held from June 9-12 in Washington, D.C., USA.
The Vietnamese negotiation delegation was led by Minister of Industry and Trade, Head of the Government negotiation delegation Nguyen Hong Dien, with the participation of members of the negotiation delegation and representatives of ministries and branches including: Public Security, Foreign Affairs, Finance, Construction, Home Affairs, Agriculture and Environment, Science and Technology, Justice and the State Bank.
During the 4 days of negotiations, the Vietnamese and US negotiating delegations have made much progress, narrowing the gap in all areas of negotiations.
The two sides discussed frankly, in the spirit of building on the issues of concern of each country expressed in the respondent Document that Vietnam sent to the US, and at the same time taking time to listen to analysis and explanations towards appropriate solutions that both sides can accept.
The two sides also agreed to hold an online meeting in the coming days to continue discussing outstanding issues and preparing for the online talks between US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick and Secretary Nguyen Hong Dien.
On the afternoon of the 4th working day (the last session of the technical negotiation session), Minister Nguyen Hong Dien had a meeting with US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick and Ambassador Jamieson Greer, Chief Trade Representative of the US. This is the first time the US has proposed a form of ministerial-level negotiations in such a way.
At the negotiation session, based on the results of the discussion in 4 days of negotiations between the two sides, Minister Nguyen Hong Dien proposed a number of ideas to promote the process and give negotiation results.
Both US Ministers highly appreciated Vietnam's goodwill and efforts in negotiations and basically agreed with the ideas raised by Minister Nguyen Hong Dien, considering it an important basis for the two sides to continue discussing the necessary work to promote the goal of reaching an agreement between the two countries.
After the plenary session with the two US Ministers, Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Hong Dien had a direct discussion session with Minister of Commerce Howard Lutnick to clarify the contents of the discussion at the plenary session.
Minister Lutnick affirmed that the US attaches great importance to its relationship with Vietnam and hopes that Vietnam will develop strongly. He acknowledged the proposed opinions and interest of Vietnam and said that he would agree with the US Trade Representative Office to have a suitable handling plan.
Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Hong Dien highly appreciated the assessments of Minister Lutnick and Ambassador Greer and affirmed Vietnam's determination to build and promote economic and trade relations with the US in a balanced and sustainable manner for the benefit of the people and businesses of the two countries.
The Ministers agreed to assign technical staff to the two sides to continue to increase exchanges to soon reach agreements in accordance with the expectations and conditions of each side.
