Prime Minister receives businessman Nicolas Berggruen and Professor Nguyen Thi Lien Hang

Mr. Nicolas Berggruen said that Berggruen Holdings is ready to cooperate, invest, and support Vietnam in human resource training, and in the immediate future, provide consulting support for Vietnam to establish a fund for investment and development.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh received Mr. Nicolas Berggruen, founder and chairman of Berggruen Holdings and the Berggruen Institute, and Ms. Nguyen Thi Lien Hang, director of the Weatherhead Institute for East Asian Studies, Columbia University, the United States. (Photo: Duong Giang/VNA)

On the evening of January 7, at the Government Headquarters, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh received Mr. Nicolas Berggruen, Director of Berggruen Holdings Group, Chairman of the Berggruen Institute and Professor Nguyen Thi Lien Hang, Director of the Weatherhead East Asia Institute, Columbia University (USA).

Welcoming businessman Nicolas Berggruen to visit and work in Vietnam and meet Professor Nguyen Thi Lien Hang again, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh highly appreciated Professor Nguyen Thi Lien Hang's active contributions in organizing and participating in recent policy dialogues with senior Vietnamese leaders.

Known as the country that suffered the most loss, pain and hardship in the world in the 20th century due to war and embargo, Vietnam is building the country based on three main pillars: socialist democracy, socialist rule of law state and socialist-oriented market economy .

Throughout the process, Vietnam has taken the people as the center, the subject, the driving force and the driving force for development; not sacrificing fairness, progress, social security, and the environment for mere economic growth. Vietnam has carried out 6 key tasks, including 3 strategic breakthroughs in institutions, infrastructure and human resource training; building an independent, self-reliant, and deeply integrated economy.

Thanks to that, after nearly 40 years of renovation, Vietnam's socio-economic situation has achieved many historic achievements. In 2024, Vietnam's socio-economic situation will continue to grow. GDP will grow by about 7%, bringing the economic scale to about 470 billion USD. The macro-economy will continue to be stable, with inflation controlled below 4%.

The major balances of the economy are guaranteed and have a high surplus. Total import-export turnover reached a record of about 800 billion USD, with a trade surplus of 24 billion USD. FDI attraction reached about 40 billion USD, ranking among the 15 developing countries attracting the largest FDI in the world, with realized FDI capital of about 25 billion USD.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh received Mr. Nicolas Berggruen, founder and chairman of Berggruen Holdings Investment Company and Berggruen Institute. (Photo: Duong Giang/VNA)

The Prime Minister said that after upgrading the relationship to Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, the Vietnam-US relationship continues to develop in depth and substance, creating a solid foundation for economic, trade, investment and cooperation in other fields. In 2024, many large US enterprises such as NVIDIA, Apple, Google... have proposed and expanded their investment in Vietnam.

According to the Prime Minister, Vietnam is renewing traditional driving forces and supplementing and promoting new growth drivers, exploiting outer space, sea space, and underground space. Along with domestic efforts, Vietnam needs support and cooperation from international friends, including the United States, especially in terms of capital, science and technology, innovation, smart governance, human resource training, green development, etc.

Emphasizing that cooperation in education and training is a bright spot in the relationship between the two countries, with more and more Vietnamese students studying in the United States, the Prime Minister suggested that Berggruen Holdings Group research and invest in a number of projects of cultural and historical significance; help promote Vietnamese culture abroad, internationalize Vietnam's culture imbued with national identity, develop cultural industries; and cooperate in education, research and human resource development.

Thanking Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh for taking the time to meet him, Mr. Nicolas Berggruen shared about the losses and pains that the Vietnamese people have had to endure. He was happy and admired the changes in Vietnam over the past years; he believed that with its resilience, self-reliance, ambition and feasibility, Vietnam will grow stronger in the future, affirming its increasingly important role in the international arena, both politically and economically.

Agreeing with the Prime Minister's proposal, Mr. Nicolas Berggruen said that Berggruen Holdings Group is ready to cooperate, invest, and support Vietnam in human resource training. In the immediate future, it will provide consulting support for Vietnam to establish a fund for development investment, in line with the development strategy and the mission that the Communist Party of Vietnam has identified as bringing an increasingly prosperous and happier life to the people./.

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