US Treasury’s Yellen sees Vietnam as key partner in ‘friendshoring’ supply chains By Reuters

By Andrea Shalal

(Reuters) – America sees Vietnam as a key companion in increasing inexperienced vitality sources and constructing extra resilient provide chains, U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen mentioned in a speech to be delivered within the nation’s capital of Hanoi on Friday.

Yellen, persevering with her travels in Asia, advised the U.S.-ASEAN Enterprise Council that commerce between the 2 nations had been rising at almost 25% a 12 months for the previous twenty years, and reached a report excessive final 12 months.

“There isn’t a signal that this momentum is slowing,” Yellen mentioned in a textual content of her ready remarks launched late on Thursday in Washington, noting that funding in Vietnam’s semiconductor sector was additionally accelerating.

Yellen’s go to is a part of a push by the US to improve its formal ties with Vietnam as it really works to scale back dependence on Chinese language provide chains by increasing manufacturing at residence and boosting commerce with trusted companions. However its efforts have met some resistance in Hanoi, over what consultants see as considerations that China may view the transfer as hostile.

America and Vietnam normalized relations in 1995, twenty years after the top of the Vietnam Conflict, and signed a bilateral commerce settlement 5 years later.

Yellen famous that Vietnam had grow to be a crucial node within the world semiconductor provide chain, and cited huge investments made by U.S. firms in Vietnam, together with Arizona-based Amkor (NASDAQ:) and Intel (NASDAQ:), which has its largest meeting and testing facility on the planet in Saigon.

Yellen’s speech didn’t point out China, which she visited earlier this month. She underscored that Washington’s “friendshoring” drive was not meant for “an unique membership of nations. It’s open and inclusive of superior economies, rising markets and creating nations alike.”

She mentioned Washington was seeking to strengthen ties with rising markets and creating nations, together with by way of the Group of Seven’s pledge to mobilize $600 billion in infrastructure investments, which consultants see as a deliberate counterweight to China’s Belt and Highway Initiative.

America can also be working to assist nations deal with the worsening local weather disaster, Yellen mentioned, citing U.S. help for Vietnam’s Simply Vitality Transition Partnership that’s working to mobilize $15 billion in private and non-private funds to assist Vietnam transition to a net-zero emissions financial system by 2050

“Now, it is important to accentuate our cooperation to construct momentum for these efforts in Vietnam, consider mission alternatives with the multilateral improvement banks, and ship a Useful resource Mobilization Plan that gives a roadmap for implementation,” she mentioned.