During the investment survey program in Nghe An, on the afternoon of June 11, the US business delegation led by Ms. Cindy Shao - President of the American-Asian Chamber of Commerce (AACC) paid a courtesy visit to the leaders of the Provincial People's Committee. Also attending was Mr. Sean Lam - Chairman of Cross Border Ventures Company and members of the delegation.

Receiving the delegation were comrades: Nguyen Duc Trung - Deputy Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee, Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee (PPC); Bui Thanh An - Member of the Provincial Party Standing Committee, Vice Chairman of the PPC; Representative leaders of relevant departments, committees, branches, agencies and units.

Overview of the meeting

Expressing his pleasure to welcome the US Business Delegation to visit and work in Nghe An province, Chairman of the PPC Nguyen Duc Trung affirmed that the delegation's visit and meeting is meaningful to the province, affirming the interest and response to the visit and meeting to the United States in November 2023 of the high-ranking delegation of Nghe An province. According to the Chairman of the PPC, this time the delegation has enterprises accompanying it, which is appropriate in the context that Nghe An is attracting investment projects and enterprises accompanying the delegation can learn about investment opportunities and connect.

Comrade Nguyen Duc Trung - Chairman of the PPC receives Ms. Cindy Shao - President of the Asian American Chamber of Commerce

The Chairman of the PPC briefly introduced some characteristics of Nghe An province to the delegation. Nghe An province is located in the center of the North Central region, identified by the Government and Central Government as the economic and cultural center of the North Central region. The province has favorable natural conditions, population, transportation infrastructure conditions, and connection methods. In recent years, the province has made changes in economic development. Economic scale ranks 10^th/63 provinces and cities. Every year, the province's economic growth is among the best in the country, especially in the North Central and Central Coast regions. Recently, after the process of preparing the necessary conditions, Nghe An is a province with very positive results in attracting investment, in the last 2 years the province has risen to the top 10 localities attracting FDI. The province attracted 137 foreign investment projects from 14 countries and territories with a total capital of over 4.2 billion USD. The fields Nghe An province attracts investment are quite diverse, however, focusing on a number of priority areas such as: Electronic manufacturing, semiconductor industry, new energy, textiles, new materials production, new energy, etc.

To get those results, over the past time, the province has prepared very favorable conditions in terms of infrastructure, premises, and support procedures for investors; in particular, the province currently has capable and professional infrastructure investors, deploying investment in industrial parks synchronously, ensuring the most favorable conditions for enterprises to invest. Currently in the province there are 5 operating industrial parks with about 2,000 hectares; In the future, the province proposes to the Government to expand the Southeast Economic Zone, currently about 20,000 hectares to about 105,000 hectares, industrial parks about 8,000 - 10,000 hectares; fully meets the requirements of investors in Nghe An.

Convenient transportation infrastructure, good regional connectivity, full convergence of road routes, air routes, sea routes, inland waterways, railways and border gates. Infrastructure connection conditions are very favorable, the expressway from Hanoi - Nghe An has been put into operation, shortening travel time; Vinh airport is focusing on completing expansion; deep-water port investment, etc. are favorable conditions for investors when investing in Nghe An.

The province's labor resources are abundant, with about 1.6 million people of working age. They work hard, are diligent, and have basic trained skills. In the area, there are 6 Universities, 11 Vocational Colleges, and 70 Vocational Training Centers, which are convenient for human resource training in the future.

The Chairman of the PPC also said that the provincial government always supports and creates conditions for enterprises, and accompanies enterprises from the investment survey as well as during the production and business process. Nghe An is facilitated by the Government and the Central Government to have specific mechanisms compared to other localities. The National Assembly is currently considering approving specific mechanisms and policies specifically for Nghe An province, creating strong development steps in the coming time. This is a favorable condition for the province and investors when coming to Nghe An.

Regarding the situation of trade and investment cooperation between enterprises in Nghe An and the United States, in 2023, the total export and import turnover of enterprises in Nghe An and the United States reached 268 million USD; of which, exports reached 243 million USD. Currently, in Nghe An province, there are 02 FDI projects invested by US enterprises with a total registered capital of 7.5 million USD. It can be seen that the economic cooperation between enterprises in Nghe An and the United States is at a modest level, not really commensurate with the potential and advantages of Nghe An province.

The Chairman of the PPC also hoped that in the coming time, the cooperative relationship between enterprises in Nghe An and US enterprises will continue to have changes, increasingly rising to new heights, commensurate with the comprehensive strategic partnership between Viet Nam and the United States. In particular, the province wants US enterprises to focus on investing in a number of priority areas, industries with US strengths such as: semiconductor industry, auto parts, manufacturing industry, production of new materials, new energy; education, training, logistics; High-tech agriculture, etc. Through activities, it will promote cooperation and increase investment of enterprises to Viet Nam in general and Nghe An province in particular. Nghe An side is always ready to create the most favorable conditions for enterprises to learn, survey and invest in Nghe An province.

Ms. Cindy Shao - President of the American-Asian Chamber of Commerce thanks the warm welcome of Nghe An provincial leaders

Thanking the warm welcome of Nghe An provincial leaders, Ms. Cindy Shao - President of the Asian American Chamber of Commerce said she would inform enterprises about Nghe An province's message in attracting investment; at the same time, she will continue to connect more enterprises to Nghe An province and continue to receive attention and support from Nghe An province.

Kim Oanh