Social network giant Meta wants to expand its investment in Vietnam in the years to come, including the manufacturing of metaverse equipment and devices.

Mr. Joel Kaplan, Vice President for Global Public Policy at Meta, made the statement at a meeting on September 18 (local time) with Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh at Meta’s headquarters during his working trip to the US.

According to Mr. Kaplan, prior to Covid-19, Meta had produced some metaverse devices in Vietnam but production was later disrupted by the pandemic. The Vietnam Government Portal has been a strategic and effective partner of the company since the pre-pandemic period.

Greatly appreciating the establishment of a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership between Vietnam and the US, Mr. Kaplan emphasized that Vietnam is a large market full of potential. He also highlighted Meta’s partnerships with the National Innovation Center (NIC) to boost digital transformation and with the Vietnam Government Portal, noting that the Portal’s Facebook page is the most successful government page in the region, with 4.2 million followers. Through this cooperation, Meta hopes to deploy programs to support the implementation of digital diplomacy for other agencies.

Meta will strive to effectively implement cooperative activities with Vietnamese agencies in the time to come, in particular supporting Vietnamese micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in reaching customers and training human resources for digital transformation.

For his part, Prime Minister Chinh said the future of the Vietnam - US Comprehensive Strategic Partnership very much depends on their enterprises’ capacity to capitalize on investment and business potential and opportunities in priority fields.

On the basis of the two countries’ sound political ties, he voiced a belief that cooperation with Meta will become increasingly fruitful and substantive, especially in such key areas as the digital economy, artificial intelligence, digital content, innovation, and digital transformation in enterprises.

The Vietnamese leader said the contributions of US companies, especially Meta, play an important role in realizing the potential of the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, the highest level of diplomatic relations and which the two countries established this month.

He called on Meta to supply more technological solutions and transfer more technologies to Vietnam, boost financial cooperation to develop science and technology, innovation, and digital transformation, and work with Vietnam to improve the country’s governance capacity in aspects where Meta has strengths. He also suggested further cooperation in human resources training, cybersecurity, and spreading correct information on social media.

He also applauded Meta’s enhancement of cooperation with the NIC as well as Vietnamese agencies and businesses in a win-win spirit to benefit both countries and their bilateral ties.