Vietnam urges the US to conduct an objective assessment leading to Vietnam's recognition as a market economy.

According to VNA, during his visit to the United States from July 31 to August 4, in Washington D.C., Mr. Nguyen Xuan Thang, Member of the Politburo, Director of the Ho Chi Minh National Academy of Politics, and Chairman of the Central Theoretical Council, and his delegation held meetings and exchanges with their American counterparts. Regarding the U.S. Department of Commerce's announcement that it has not yet recognized Vietnam as a market economy, Mr. Nguyen Xuan Thang stated that Vietnam deeply regrets and is disappointed by this, noting that investment between the two countries has developed unprecedentedly strongly in recent years; both countries have made tremendous efforts to elevate their relationship to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership; and Vietnam has met all six criteria set by the U.S. Department of Commerce for recognizing a country as a market economy. Mr. Nguyen Xuan Thang suggested that both sides should continue to strengthen exchanges, and that the U.S. should objectively assess Vietnam and move towards recognizing it as a market economy. For its part, the Vietnamese Ministry of Industry and Trade stated that if the US Department of Commerce had considered Vietnam's case and practices objectively and fairly, it could have acknowledged that Vietnam is already a market economy, like the 72 other economies that have recognized it, including major economies such as the UK, Canada, Mexico, Australia, Japan, India, South Korea, and New Zealand. Over the past 20 years, the Vietnamese economy has undergone remarkable changes and development. Vietnam has successfully signed and implemented 17 free trade agreements, including new-generation, high-standard free trade agreements. These changes have been clarified in more than 20,000 pages of information and documents that the Vietnamese Ministry of Industry and Trade submitted to the US Department of Commerce, demonstrating Vietnam's strong progress across all six criteria set by the US Department of Commerce when considering the recognition of a country as having a market economy. Therefore, based on the specific criteria of US law, recognizing Vietnam as a market economy is an objective and fair reality. On August 3rd, the Spokesperson of the Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Pham Thu Hang, also stated: "We are disappointed that the US Department of Commerce continues to classify Vietnam as a non-market economy. While acknowledging many positive changes in the Vietnamese economy in recent times, this decision does not fully reflect the great efforts and achievements of Vietnam in building and developing a market economy that have been recognized by the international community." Over the past period, Vietnamese agencies and businesses have actively cooperated with the US Department of Commerce, providing many convincing arguments affirming that the Vietnamese economy has fully met the six criteria of a market economy as stipulated by US law. This has also been supported by many associations, businesses, and experts in the US and internationally. In fact, to date, 72 countries have recognized Vietnam as having a market economy. International organizations have acknowledged the remarkable progress of the Vietnamese economy. Simultaneously, Vietnam has participated in many high-quality Free Trade Agreements (FTAs). "In the spirit of the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, Vietnam requests the US to continue fulfilling its commitment to broad, strong, and constructive coordination and to soon recognize Vietnam's market economy status. Relevant Vietnamese agencies will continue to closely coordinate with US partners to ensure that bilateral economic and trade relations continue to develop stably and harmoniously, bringing practical benefits to businesses and people of both countries," said Foreign Ministry spokesperson Pham Thu Hang. Source: https://laodong.vn/thoi-su/de-nghi-my-danh-gia-khach-quan-tien-toi-cong-nhan-viet-nam-la-nen-kinh-te-thi-truong-1376010.ldo