President Truong in High Level White House Talks
The United States Trade Representative's Office have announced that talks between the USA and Vietnam, regarding a regional free trade agreement, are being intensified. This comes on the back of protests from human rights groups.
Online, July 30, 2013 (Newswire.com) - The US Trade representative (USTR) Michael Froman issued a statement after meeting the Vietnamese President Mr. Truong Tan Sang, saying, "Vietnam has come a long way in addressing its own challenges to meet the high standards of the TPP (Trans-Pacific Partnership), but we still have work to do together." This is seen as excellent news all round and certainly a further boost to Vietnam travel agents. Vietnam is already leading the way in the region and further trade links with the west will bolster an already booming tourism industry.
Vietnam has tried hard in recent years to fully embrace the standards set by Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) and whilst improvements can still be made, the protests were threatening the good relationship between the countries. A statement like this coming from USTR is a major fillip.
President Trong is only the second Vietnamese leader to visit the White House since the countries nomalized their relationship following the many years of conflict. That this initiative is being driven by the President himself is seen as measure of the importance of this issue to Vietnam.
The American delegation were determined not to get side tracked from the important issues. They seem to have achieved this with Danny Russell, the number one US diplomat for Southeast Asia commenting, that the Presidents visit was "an historic milestone." America sees Southeast Asia as the most important region in the whole continent and possibly the world.
Travel and trade have been enjoying something of an upsurge in recent years in Vietnam. Many International companies have headquarters in either Hanoi or Ho Chi Minh City. Vietnam travel agents say that holidays to the country are both growing in number and in destinations
No Vietnamese leader has visited the United States since 2007 and the significance of this is not lost in Washington. President Truong faced the critics head on and gave more than a good account of himself. It is important that these trade links are continually built and rebuilt. Getting support from Dr Satu Limaye,who is the East-West Center director and one of many business leaders to welcome the President, was a good sign. As Mr Limaye himself said, "Vietnam occupies a critical place in the geostrategy of an evolving Asia, it's a negotiating partner for a Trans-Pacific Partnership on economic and trade issues."
It is a good piece of news for Vietnam. As global trends and business models shift focus, it is of course of paramount importance to be seen as a leading country from the region. The world is an ever shrinking business environment. As Asian countries and also the sub continent pushes for further dominance in a crowded business environment, it is seen a positive that Vietnam is building closer ties to its Western counterparts.
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