In the early morning meeting with Secretary of the Wisconsin Department of Administration Michael Morgan, PM Nguyễn Tấn Dũng stressed that abundant opportunities for bilateral cooperation should be fully exploited by Việt Nam and the US in general as well as Việt Nam and Wisconsin in particular.

Secretary Michael Morgan committed that Wisconsin State will strengthen cooperation with Việt Nam in economy, trade, education, science and technology.

Former Secretary of State M. Albright: Việt Nam will quickly get out of temporary hard time

Former Secretary of State M. Albright, one of the key people in the Việt Nam-US diplomatic normalization process, expressed her pleasure to meet PM Dũng in Washington DC. The positive results since the diplomatic healing are very meaningful, Mrs. Albright said.

Regarding Việt Nam's current difficulties, Mrs. Albright spoke highly of the Vietnamese Government's drastic efforts to curb inflation, ensure the social security, and keep its growth on track. She was convinced that Việt Nam will quickly overcome temporary hard time.

PM Nguyễn Tấn Dũng had high opinion of Mrs. Albright's contributions to the diplomatic normalization between the two countries. He briefed the vigorous development of the bilateral friendship and multi-faceted cooperation during the past 13 years. Since the coming into effect of the Việt Nam-US Bilateral Trade Agreement, two-way trade turnover has sharply increased, reaching over US $12 billion in 2007, eight times higher in comparison with that of 2001 and up 40% per year on average. Now, the US ranks the third among 220 countries and territories doing business with Việt Nam.

Mr. Alan Greenspan: Việt Nam - An emerging economy in Asia-Pacific

Also in the morning of June 23, PM Dũng met the Former Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve of the United States, Mr. Alan Greenspan, who is named "the Magician of the US economy". The PM sketched Việt Nam’s first-half economy, saying that the Vietnamese Government acknowledges that it is impossible to put a sudden stop on inflation. It must be done step by step to bend the inflation rate back to a single digit at the end of 2009. The PM highlighted that Việt Nam is still a charm for international investors.

According to Mr. Greenspan, Việt Nam, like China and Russia, is in serious need of import to meet its domestic production demand in the context of soaring price and inflation in the international market. By cutting down the budget expenditure, tightening credit management, and curbing inflation, the Vietnamese Government is playing on track in stabilizing macro-economy. However, Việt Nam should review, assess, and rearrange the operation of its groups and corporations so as not to damage the small and medium enterprises, said Mr Alan Greenspan.

Mr. Greenspan also stated that the current global challenges do not keep off any country and Việt Nam will surely get through. For the US, Việt Nam is still an emerging economy in the Asia-Pacific region, he concluded.

Later on the same day, PM Nguyễn Tấn Dũng had working sessions with the Consultant of External Affairs of Senator Barack Obama, leaders of some religions and top corporations.

By Phùng Lợi