According to Mr. Michael Michalak, Senior Vice President and Regional Managing Director of the US-ASEAN Business Council (US-ABC), the cooperation between Vietnam and the United States in 2022 has achieved positive and remarkable results. Total export turnover of both countries received USD$ 138 billion. Vietnam becomes the 8th largest trading partner of the United States. With the participation of representatives from more than 50 US businesses this time,  Mr. Michael Michalak hopes that the meeting will create opportunities for exchanging potentials of cooperation between the two sides, contributing to promoting national economic growth.

Mr. Nguyen Van Hung, Minister of the MOCST (right) and Mr. Michael Michalak - US-ABC’s Senior Vice President and Regional Managing Director (left) at the meeting (Photo: TITC)

Mr. Nguyen Trung Khanh, Chairman of Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT) attends the meeting (Photo: TITC)

Ms. Josephine Choy, Vice President, Business and Legal Affairs, Local Originals and Acquisitions at Netflix APAC addressed the desire to introduce and offer Vietnamese audiences top entertainment products, stand side by side with the MOCST to proceed the Strategy for development of cultural industries in Vietnam to 2020, vision to 2030 of the Government, in which, Vietnam has set a target for the cultural industry to become a spearhead service economy.

In 2022, the movie "A Tourist's Guide to Love" has officially started filming in famous places in Vietnam such as Ho Chi Minh City, Da Nang, Hoi An, My Son and Ha Giang. The film is scheduled to be launched in nearly 90 countries around the worldMs. Josephine Choy hopes that the movie will be a hit to promote Vietnam tourism, contributing to attract more international visitors to the country.

Regarding the development of framework for state management in the field of cinema in general and cyberspace in particular, Netflix shows their support towards the MOCST and indicated this is a proof for efforts of Vietnamese Government in improving the legal environment in line with the changes of the technology business environment in the world, as well as enhancing Vietnam's position in the international market.

Ms. Josephine Choy, Vice President, Business and Legal Affairs, Local Originals and Acquisitions at Netflix APAC (Photo: TITC)

Mr. Jacob, representative of Marriott International Group - the world's leading hotel business group, said, with an open policy on tourism post Covid-19, Vietnam's major tourist centres such as Ho Chi Minh City or Hanoi are starting to restore strongly again. Marriott International looks forward to cooperating with the MOCST as well as relevant agencies in the industry to uphold promotion activities, organise international events, fam trip groups to target markets, and promote image and the brand of Vietnamese tourism, introducing more than 180 million members of the Marriott network worldwide via its Loyalty Programme.

Acknowledging the major role of domestic tourism in Vietnam for the past two years, Marriott International's digital platforms have installed the Vietnamese language system to opportune the rising demands in the country . In the near future, Marriott International commits to stand side by side with the MOCST in promoting Vietnam tourism.

Mr. Jacob, representative of Marriott International Group (Photo: TITC)

President of Boeing Southeast Asia Alexander Feldman stated, Boeing is actively training in aviation safety and focusing on sustainable aviation development. Boeing is always ready to support Vietnam in the aviation field through training programmes, thereby opening up opportunities for cooperation and attracting investment from foreign partners to Vietnam. At the meeting, Mr. Alexander Feldman also emphasised the importance of developing sustainable aviation fuel sources, thereby promoting sustainable tourism development.

President of Boeing Southeast Asia Alexander Feldman (Photo: TITC)

Addressing the meeting, MOCST’s Minister Nguyen Van Hung highly appreciated opinions given out by US-ASEAN Business Council business representatives. He hopes that in the near future, Vietnam and The United States will continue to promote mutual assistance in activities in the fields of culture, sports, and tourism. The MOCST will favour the best condition to support the promotion of Vietnam tourism worldwide. MOCST’s Minister Nguyen Van Hung suggested Netflix to actively produce movies, reality shows, focusing on gastronomy and tangible and intangible cultural heritage sites in Vietnam to promote the image of Vietnamese tourism and people on the platform of Netflix. Additionally, organise seminars to promote cooperation, share experience in film production, improve filmmaking techniques with Vietnamese cinema.

Sharing the current situation of Vietnam tourism, MOCST’s Minister Nguyen Van Hung stated, domestic tourism has shown a positive recovery and remains as a platform for international tourism. On 15th March 2023, the National conference on Tourism with the theme "Accelerating recovery - Accelerating development" was successfully held under the chairmanship of the Prime Minister, offering effective solutions to accelerate the recovery and development of tourism in Vietnam. As a leading hotel business group in the world, MOCST’s Minister Nguyen Van Hung hopes to witness the cooperation between Marriott International and Vietnam National Administration of Tourism in promoting tourism and hotel products and services on digital platforms of both sides. At the same time, organise training programs for the workforce in the tourism industry in general and the hotel industry in particular in Vietnam.

Overview of the meeting (Photo: TITC)

Regarding the aviation sector, MOCST’s Minister Nguyen Van Hung suggested Boeing to cooperate with the Ministry of Transport in operating direct and charter flights connecting Vietnam and potential international markets.

Delegates taking souvenir photo (Photo: TITC)

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