The US is the largest consumer market in the world and a great choice for any Vietnamese company looking to go global, Mr. Stephen Green, Counselor for Commercial Affairs at the US Embassy in Vietnam, told the SelectUSA Information Session, held in preparation for the 10^th SelectUSA Investment Summit by the Embassy in collaboration with the Vietnam Software Association (VINASA) on March 12.

The 10^th SelectUSA Investment Summit will be held on June 23-26 in Washington, D.C. “In four days at the SelectUSA Investment Summit, companies can efficiently make the connections and gather the information they need to start the process of growing in the US, with everything you need to know all in one single location,” Mr. Green said.

US Ambassador to Vietnam, H.E. Marc E. Knapper, affirmed that it has been an amazing time recently for US-Vietnam bilateral relations. In September, President Joe Biden and Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong announced the upgrade of diplomatic relations from a Comprehensive Partnership to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership; the highest tier in Vietnam’s foreign policy hierarchy.

“This upgrade is all about our two countries’ future and the intrinsic value of our ties and of our friendship as we go forward,” the Ambassador added. “This new elevated status will be a force for prosperity, with trade and investment at the core of our relationship. The 2024 SelectUSA Investment Summit is the largest event promoting FDI in the US and a celebration of successfully connecting international companies, US economic development organizations, and industry experts.”

Ambassador Knapper also said that since the first time a Vietnamese delegation joined the Summit in 2016, Vietnamese businesses have invested hundreds of millions of dollars in the US economy.

He encouraged Vietnamese businesses to join more than 2,300 international other participants from 83 international markets at this year’s event, to explore investment and cooperation opportunities in key industries including energy, automotive, healthcare, and financial services, among others. Participants will have the opportunity to meet with representatives from Governors’ and Mayors’ economic development teams across the US.

The US Ambassador highlighted SelectUSA Tech, an important part of the SelectUSA Program, which provides support to tech startups developing innovative tech products and services and planning to expand to the US market within the next two or three years.

Mr. Tran Manh Hung, Baker McKenzie’s APAC Co-Chair - IPTech Practice Group, said Vietnamese businesses that are interested in investing in the US must pay special attention to the country’s complex regulations, especially in areas related to intellectual property and personal data.

Mr. Bui Thanh Tung, Authority for the ICT Industry at the Ministry of Information and Communication (MoIC), believes now is an opportunity for Vietnamese technology businesses to develop abroad.

He pointed out that, firstly, in the context of it taking hundreds of years for an industrial revolution to take place like today, the MoIC is promoting support for businesses investing abroad.

Second, the government is promoting the semiconductor industry development strategy, which is directly related to US businesses, thus opening up great opportunities for cooperation with countries around the world as well as in the US.

Third, the existing global market context is very supportive of Vietnam. In 2023, although the global economy declined somewhat, the software industry still grew in the double digits. In particular, the entire information technology industry has seen a decline, but the software and services industry has seen good growth.

Mr. Nguyen Khai Hoan, SEVP, COO, and CFO at FPT Software, said it has earned $1 billion in revenue in international markets, including in the US.

FPT had tried to set up an office in Silicon Valley since the early 2000s but faced difficulties. In 2008, it officially established an office in the US.

FPT Software currently has six offices and about 1,000 employees, performed three major merger and acquisition (M&A) deals with a number of software businesses in the US market, cooperated with US tech businesses through M&As, and established joint ventures.

SelectUSA is a US Government program led by the US Department of Commerce that focuses on facilitating job-creating business investment in the US and raising awareness about the critical role that economic development plays in the US economy.

Since its inception, SelectUSA has attracted thousands of international companies and generated more than $98 billion in new investment projects through a one-stop shop platform designed to connect qualified foreign companies and investors with US economic development organizations (EDOs) representing state and local governments from across the 50 US states and its territories.

The US has been ranked the Number 1 destination globally for FDI for over a decade and is currently home to more FDI than any other country in the world. The 10th SelectUSA Investment Summit is an opportunity to build on the forward momentum of the US - Vietnam Comprehensive Strategic Partnership and is another welcome initiative to increase trade and commerce between the two countries.