With the aim of promoting trade and investment, expanding market relations, and connecting enterprises in industry, trade and import-export services in early 2026, the Vietnam Trade Office (VTO) at the Consulate General of Vietnam in Houston organized a series of activities to strengthen linkages and introduce major Vietnamese enterprises through chambers of commerce across the southern region of the country.

On January 14-15, 2026, the VTO organized in-person seminars with two US associations and representatives of THACO Industries, bringing together more than 60 delegates from businesses of both countries. Several Vietnamese enterprises joined online, including CMC Global under CMC Technology Group, representatives from industrial parks, the Trade Promotion and Investment Support Center under the Vietnam Trade Promotion Agency (Ministry of Industry and Trade), as well as professors, experts and officials from US and Vietnamese institutions.

Since 2025, VTO Houston has introduced several US partner enterprises to THACO Industries to facilitate trade, manufacturing and investment cooperation. US partners have sent working delegations to Vietnam to visit Chu Lai Industrial Park, and the parties are gradually implementing cooperation activities in manufacturing and import-export in the time ahead.

At events organized by the VTO, representatives of major Vietnamese enterprises including THACO Industries in the US and CMC Global had opportunities to present their capabilities and development orientations for the US market, partner-seeking plans, and projects in various industrial and high-tech fields. THACO and CMC also engaged with US chambers of commerce and industry associations, key connectors linking hundreds of enterprises across multiple sectors, to share knowledge and business opportunities for the coming period.

During presentations and discussions at the early-2026 seminars, Professors Huynh The Du and Tran Luong Son Vietnamese overseas scholars based in the US actively contributed to discussions with participating partners on topics such as economic and trade development, technology transfer, entrepreneurship, and practical experience in the US. Many presentations and business opinions from both sides focused on sharing market information, partner demand, analysis of economic models, import-export and investment solutions, enterprise development trends in 2026, and forecasts of socio-economic impacts and consumer groups in the period ahead.

Sharing experience in connecting US partners for foreign enterprises, Jagdip Ahluwalia, Chief Executive Officer and representative of the Indo-American Chamber of Commerce (IACC) in Houston, noted that companies should avoid rushing when entering a new market like the US. Instead, they should work with local partners and professional, licensed and experienced institutions such as Vietnamese trade offices, chambers of commerce, consulting firms or industry peers to thoroughly assess partner capacity before engagement, ensuring more sustainable and effective cooperation.

Sam Chang, representative of the Asian Chamber of Commerce in Houston (ACC), which has more than 500 member companies across various sectors, expressed readiness to share experience in supporting Asian enterprises entering the US market and to introduce new partners and investment opportunities for Vietnamese businesses. He noted that the ACC has established a dedicated unit to support the Vietnam market.

To further support Vietnamese enterprises expanding into the US, VTO Houston invited Vietnamese overseas business owners and consulting experts in Houston to the early-year seminars to share first-hand experience in establishing, managing and operating businesses in the US. These entrepreneurs expressed their desire to continue connecting with partners to help develop the Vietnam-US business community and entrepreneurial network in the future