Japanese press underlines rise of Vietnam following US Treasury chief’s trip
VOV.VN - Nikkei Asia of Japan has published an article stating that United States Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen’s trip to Vietnam underlines Vietnam's rise as a hub for manufacturing semiconductors, vehicles, and other products is good for the US.
US Treasury Secretary Yellen hopped on a scarlet, made-in-Vietnam electric motorbike in Hanoi on July 20 to send a message that Washington sees the Southeast Asian country as a key partner for both green energy and supply-chain resilience.
However, resilience "doesn't mean doing everything ourselves and it doesn't mean, in our case, ending our in any way trading relations with China," she told reporters after touring the motorbike factory of a Vietnamese startup. "But we do want to partner with more countries, and we see Vietnam as an excellent partner," she added.
Amid rising tensions between Washington and Beijing, US companies like Tesla, Apple, and HP are increasingly sourcing from the Southeast Asian country, which also hosts chip production for Intel and Samsung.
Yellen came to Hanoi following recent trips made to China and India, another destination for factories looking to shift away from Asia's biggest economy.
The US and other G7 nations also are mobilising US$15.5 billion in climate funds for Vietnam, the article stated.
According to Nikkei Asia, last year saw the nation become one the US's seventh-biggest trade partner, while the US represented its top export market. Commerce between the countries, which fought a war that ended in 1975, totaled US$138 billion in 2022.
Vietnam has duly gone from an agricultural to a manufacturing powerhouse, receiving a flood of foreign investors in recent years, from Uniqlo and BYD to Nike and Lego.
Treasury Secretary Yellen got a look at the country's rapid transformation on a drive to the outskirts of Hanoi, passing flooded rice fields and ponds turned green under banana trees.
Her destination was Selex Motors, an electric-vehicle startup looking to persuade millions of motorbike drivers to go electric by offering EV battery-swapping stations around the Vietnamese capita, making charging their bikes as easy as fueling up at a gas station.
On multiple trips abroad, Treasury Secretary Yellen has hosted meals with women leaders whom she believes should play vital roles in policymaking. In the Vietnamese capital she offered a familiar refrain.
"Personally, as an economist, I know I share many similar experiences as those of you who have joined me for lunch. I know what it's like when you're the only woman in the room or at the decision-making table," she said, eliciting chuckles at the Vietnamese restaurant Gia, a recent recipient of a Michelin star.