News

HANOI - Export-Import Bank of the United States (EXIM) President and Chairman Kimberly A. Reed today concluded two days of discussions in Vietnam with government officials and businesses leaders to advance economic growth and reaffirm the United States support for a strong, prosperous, and independent Vietnam. Chairman Reed is participating in a U.S. delegation visit to Southeast Asia led by National Security Advisor Ambassador Robert C. O'Brien.

Chairman Reed, Ambassador O'Brien, U.S. Ambassador to Vietnam Dan Kritenbrink, and Deputy Assistant to the President and National Security Council Senior Director for Asian Affairs Allison Hooker met yesterday with Prime Minister Nguy?n Xuan Phuc, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ph?m Binh Minh, and Minister of National Defense General Ngo Xuan L?ch.

L-R: EXIM Chairman Reed, Amb. Kritenbrink; Interpreter; Amb. O'Brien; Prime Minister Phuc; Interpreter; Standing Vice Minister Bui Thanh Son; MPS Vice Minister Bui Van Nam

Chairman Reed encouraged the Vietnamese officials to consider choosing high-quality "Made in the USA" exports, including in transformational sectors-such as wireless communications (5G), renewable energy, biomedical sciences, and biotechnology-as well as energy, infrastructure, liquefied natural gas (LNG), health care, agriculture, and aviation exports. She also emphasized the agency's ability to provide competitive financing through the new Program on China and Transformational Exports. The Program's purpose is to support the extension of loans, guarantees, and insurance, at rates and on terms and other conditions, to the extent practicable, that are fully competitive with rates, terms, and other conditions established by the People's Republic of China.

L-R: MOIT Vice Minister; OOG Vice Chairman Nguy?n Cao L?c; MOFA Standing Vice Minister Bui Thanh Son; MPS VM Bui Van Nam; Prime Minister Nguy?n Xuan Phuc; Amb. O'Brien; Amb. Kritenbrink; MND VM Lieutenant General Hoang Xuan Chi?n; EXIM Chairman Reed; NSC Sr. Dir. Hooker

"As we pause to celebrate 25 years of friendship, cooperation, and diplomatic relations between the United States and the Vietnam, I want to thank Prime Minister Phuc and the other government officials for our productive conversations in Vietnam. As Ambassador O'Brien underscored in his remarks today at the Diplomatic Academy of Vietnam, 'As our nations recover from the pandemic, economic cooperation will prove more important than ever. As the world's largest economy and most generous donor in humanitarian assistance, the United States stands ready to help boost Vietnam's economy. In turn, we want Vietnam to buy more of America's terrific products and host more American companies in your country,'" said Chairman Reed. "I am honored to join Ambassador O'Brien in these important discussions and am committed to ensuring that EXIM is utilized to support our comprehensive partnership and promote investment and business development opportunities that can lead to benefits for both U.S. and Vietnamese workers and businesses. We are and will continue to be trusted partners prospering together!"

Front Row - L-R: Phan Vay Quy, Chairman, Pacific; Nguyen Chon Hung, Chairman, PECC2; Dihn Quoc Lam, Chairman, EVN GENCO3; Pham Hong Son, General Director, GE Vietnam; Huynh Bich Ngoc, Deputy Chairwoman, TTC Group; Tetsu Funayama, President and General Director, Mitsubishi Corp.; Back Row - L-R: Amb. Kritenbrink; Amb. O'Brien; EXIM Chairman Reed

Chairman Reed's meetings built upon previous discussions-including with Prime Minister Phuc-that took place last month in Hanoi last and during the 2019 East Asia Summit in Bangkok.

Chairman Reed also last month participated in the 2020 Indo-Pacific Business Forum, where she witnessed virtually from Japan the signing of a historic energy agreement between AES Corporation of Arlington, Virginia and PetroVietnam, finalizing the establishment of their joint venture for the Son My Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) Import Terminal. This signing was a historic milestone in U.S.-Vietnam energy cooperation and illustrated the United States' commitment to advancing two-way trade and investment in Vietnam and throughout the whole Indo-Pacific region.

The U.S. Delegation next will visit the Philippines as part of their continued engagement in the region.

Ambassador O'Brien's readout from the visit can be accessed here. Photos from the visit can be accessed here.

ABOUT EXIM:

EXIM is an independent federal agency that promotes and supports American jobs by providing competitive and necessary export credit to support sales of U.S. goods and services to international buyers. A robust EXIM can level the global playing field for U.S. exporters when they compete against foreign companies that receive support from their governments. EXIM also contributes to U.S. economic growth by helping to create and sustain hundreds of thousands of jobs in exporting businesses and their supply chains across the United States. In recent years, approximately 90 percent of the total number of the agency's authorizations has directly supported small businesses. Since 1992, EXIM has generated more than $9 billion for the U.S. Treasury for repayment of U.S. debt.

For more information about EXIM, please visit www.exim.gov.