On the sidelines of the sixth round of negotiations for the Vietnam-US Fair and Balanced Trade Agreement, Acting Minister of Industry and Trade Le Manh Hung met with the US Assistant Secretary of Energy James Danly in Washington D.C on the afternoon of February 4. 

The meeting was also attended by the Vietnamese Ambassador to the US and Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Sinh Nhat Tan.

At the meeting, the Acting Minister emphasized Vietnam’s objective of maintaining double-digit economic growth in the coming period, which leads to a rapid, continuous, and long-term increase in energy demand. This requirement necessitates synchronous solutions regarding supply, infrastructure, technology, and large-scale investment capital. In this context, Vietnam attaches great importance to expanding energy cooperation with the US.

The Acting Minister clarified Vietnam's urgent need to strongly develop new energy sources and infrastructure, including LNG-to-power, renewables such as wind, offshore wind, and solar power, battery energy storage systems, transmission grids, and advanced energy technologies. These efforts aim to meet load growth while fulfilling the commitment to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050.

The Acting Minister also requested that the US Department of Energy promote and create favorable conditions for Vietnamese enterprises to gain faster and easier access to supplies of machinery, equipment, technology, and fuel from the US, such as power generation turbines from GE Group. Furthermore, he urged the promotion of US enterprises to ensure the on-schedule implementation of energy projects in Vietnam.

Assistant Secretary James Danly agreed with the aforementioned proposals and noted that the US possesses strengths in supplying LNG, crude oil, power generation turbines, and electrical equipment, as well as providing modern energy system management technologies and solutions. Increasing the import of these products from the US represents more than just a purely economic move; it serves as a direct and substantive solution to adjust the bilateral trade balance toward a more balanced and sustainable direction.

During the working session, the US side officially extended an invitation to Acting Minister Le Manh Hung to attend the Indo-Pacific Energy Security Ministerial and Business Forum, scheduled to take place on March 14-15 in Tokyo, Japan. The forum aims to promote policy connectivity and energy investment cooperation within the region.